Two weeks back, we discussed the early history of Chevrolet, tracking their rise from a small automobile company to a household name. In this article, we’re going to do the same for Ford. While Ford are a larger company than Chevrolet, there are a few reasons this is a worthwhile exercise.
One, like Chevrolet, they are a household name with a reputation for reliability. Two, they are Chevrolet’s infamous rivals. Finally, they helped to revolutionize the American automotive industry.
This will, as with Chevy’s history, be warts and all. Henry Ford was not the most savory character, nor were all of his automobiles success stories. Despite this, his influence is unmistakably massive. That’s what we’re here to explore.
Henry Ford’s car building did not begin with the establishment of Ford in 1903. Several years earlier, in 1896, he built his first vehicle, the Ford Quadricycle, at his home in Detroit. The site of this important project is now the Michigan Building.
The Quadricycle was primitive, but helped establish what cars should look like. It was powered by an ethanol-fueled engine, and developed just 4 horsepower. Ford sold four of the Quadricycles, eventually buying the first one back for posterity.
If you’re interested, you can see the original vehicle at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Three years after the Quadricycle was developed, Ford made his first teetering steps into the nascent automobile industry, founding the Detroit Automobile Company.
Ms. Swan
This marque produced 20 vehicles before it was reorganized into The Henry Ford Company in 1901. Two years later, with funding from coal dealer Alexander Young Malcomson, banker John S. Gray, and a slew of local businessmen, the Ford Motor Company started in earnest.
Despite Ford and Malcolmson owning the most shares, Gray was elected as President, with Ford as his VP. Just as business was not all rosy at Chevrolet, it wasn’t particularly kind at Ford, either.
Malcolmson and Ford disagreed virulently over Malcolmson’s other business, the luxury car maker Aerocar. Gray backed Ford, and Malcolmson was essentially left by the wayside. He later sold his stock, invested in Aerocar, and added his name to the list of terrible decision makers throughout history.
Regardless, that would be a few years later. Business was kicked off by the Model A, not to be confused with the later model of the same name. This two-seater was expensive, priced $150 higher than the Oldsmobile Curved Dash. To top it off, it had a fair few issues, with chronic overheating a common complaint.
Other cars of this era include the “Doctor’s Car” that was the Model C (that was again outpriced by competitors), and the inline-six powered Model K. If I seem to be rather jogging through the early models, it’s not without reason. While these early models are important, they weren’t massive successes. That success would come with the Model T in 1908.
Henry Ford assumed the presidency after Gray died in 1906, and two years later, motoring was changed forever. The Model T, while a rip-roaring success, did not begin that way. The assembly line production we associate with it was not there from the off. Just a few a day were built. Then, in 1913, the assembly lines’ components had all been established, and production really began to fly.
The large Highland Park plant played its part, and Model Ts began to be built on a moving assembly line. Instead of taking several men a day to produce, they could now be made, from scratch, in just over an hour and a half. Output soared. In 1914, 202,667 of the cars were built, compared to 10,666 in 1909. The Model T’s efficient production satiated supply, while the Tin Lizzie’s low price of $440 in 1914 granted massive demand. Ford’s goals were simple: build a car for everybody.
“I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.”
Building the Model T was punishing work. Its rabid speed of production made for hard labor, but Ford was mindful of this. In 1914, wages were doubled to $5 per day, and hours were cut from 9 hours to 8 hours per day. Workers could afford a Model T with just four months worth of their pay.
It was also a startlingly progressive company in its hiring practices. Ford employed the best workers, regardless of who they were or what they looked like. Disabled people were hired, while other companies would throw them aside. They were one of a handful of corporations happy to hire large numbers of black workers.
When the First World War reared its head, Henry Ford’s position vacillated back and forth. Originally, he was a staunch pacifist, and even embarked on a peace mission to Europe in 1915. The mission was far from successful. The voyage took place on a ship called the Oscar II, nicknamed the Peace Ship, and it was a disaster.
There was a vast amount of infighting between the activists, with opinion split over Woodrow Wilson’s increase of spending on the Navy and Army. To cap it off, influenza broke out on the ship, with one person dying from pneumonia. Despite Ford’s earlier public pacifism, the company would go onto be an important linchpin in the war effort, producing the Model T Ambulance and the M1918 tankette.
Following the war, Ford were in a dominant position in American motoring. Henry Ford had bought out all other shareholders in 1919 for $125 million, a huge amount at the time. He also dramatically expanded production, building several important new plants. His son, Edsel Ford, assumed the presidency that same year. In 1921, a staggering 61 percent of all cars sold were Model Ts. There was just one problem. Fords were getting somewhat stale.
Despite their acquisition of luxury car firm Lincoln, they began to lose market share to GM and Chrysler, who were putting out cars with fresher tech, such as four-wheel brakes.
They also had a greater range of models available, and had begun extending credit to customers, which Ford rejected on principal. In 1927, the company finally began to offer it. Production on the Model T ended in 1927, and that hot rodders’ favorite, the Model A, entered the market that same year. By 1929, two million of these had been sold. Ford’s days were far from over.
A part of Ford’s massive success lies not only in its American plants, but in its overseas ones. Its first overseas plant had been established in Manchester, England, in 1913. By the end of the 1920s, Ford had spread across five continents, producing a massive amount of cars. There was even an agreement reached with the Soviet Union, with a factory founded in Nizhny Novgorod producing GAZ cars, developed by Ford engineers.
In an attempt to ensure a constant supply of rubber, Ford purchased eight and a half square miles of land in the Amazon rainforest, founding a town called Fordlandia, which today has a population of 3000. The Brazilian government had been promised nine percent of all profits. It was an unmitigated failure. Workers caught tropical diseases. The managers sent by Ford had little knowledge of agriculture or rubber farming.
The land was infertile. Workers were expected to work under the blazing tropical sun and were fed only American food that led to a revolt, requiring the Brazilian army to put it down. Eventually, the project was relocated to an area with better soil, but shortly after, synthetic rubber was developed. When the land was sold back to the Brazilian government in 1945, the project had lost $20 million.
The Great Depression took a heavy toll on Ford and its workers, with the nadir of employer-worker relations taking place in March 1932. In the Ford Hunger March, thousands of unemployed people recently laid off from Ford marched to the gates of the River Rouge plant, demanding support. Tear gas was fired into the crowd by police, and eventually, after rocks were thrown, live rounds, leading to the deaths of five men.
As World War II looms, we must discuss Henry Ford’s politics. For all of his innovations, and indeed, openness in employment, he was a man of great personal prejudice. In the company-owned newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, he published numerous anti-Semitic articles, which were reprinted in Nazi Germany under the title of The International Jew, The World’s Foremost Problem.
Said newspaper also reprinted the anti-Semitic screed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It is not for nothing that both Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler were admirers of Henry Ford, with Hitler regarding Ford as an “inspiration.”
During the early years of the Second World War, while the United States remained neutral, Ford was unwilling to support the Allied war effort. Nor did the company shrink from the idea of firing a manager of one of their German plants in 1936 because he was Jewish. The company was close enough to the Nazi regime that Henry Ford was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle by the regime.
Following Pearl Harbor, the company began to put its massive shoulder to the wheel of the Allied war effort. Over the course of the war, 390,000 trucks, 270,000 Jeeps, and 8000 B-24 Liberator bombers were built by the company.
In 1943, Edsel Ford died of stomach cancer at the age of 49, with Henry Ford once again becoming president briefly before passing it on to his grandson, Henry Ford II. The company was beginning to stagnate somewhat in the years following World War II, but it was in these years that many legendary figures were brought into the fold.
Among them was Ernest R. Breech, head of Bendix Aviation, who helped make the company somewhat lithe once again. The Air Force veterans and experts in managerial science, the Whiz Kids, followed in his footsteps, helping to greatly improve the company. Other famous faces who would join the company around this time included Robert McNamara and Lee Iacocca.
These figures ushered in an age of success in the 50s and 60s, helping Ford maintain its status as an automotive giant. After years of familial control by the Ford family and the Ford Foundation, Ford became a publically-traded company in 1956.
The Thunderbird, introduced in 1955, brought a speedy European-style roadster to North America, while the Falcon and Mustang kick started the Pony Car boom. Despite the occasional failure (see the Pinto or the Edsel), Ford continued to grow and innovate, building themselves the pedestal that they stand on even now.
https://restomods.com/early-history-ford-7182/
I am trying to buy a 56 now and found this article very informative, the rear dual exhaust has the cut outs in the bumper but the person who restored it actually ran the exhaust just under the bumper with chrome tips to prevent corrosion, it is a 3 speed but it has a Hurst shifter, looks good in the car but I’m not sure how much this hurts the value.
Other than that the car is in excellent shape and has the hard top and the soft top. Red with red and white interior, they also added a double master cylinder for the brakes and it has power steering. 35k is the price I don’t think I can get hurt at that number. I’m mainly a Chevy guy so I don’t know much about the Tbirds, but they look great.
All 55 - 57 Thunderbirds that were equiped with automatic transmissions were 3 speed fordomatics. The misconception that they were 2 speeds is due to the fact they started in second gear unless you put the shifter in low and then did the upshift to 2nd manually.
Sounds like a fair price but I’d sure take my magnet in a sock and see how much Bondo is in it. I’d also ask if they still have the original shifter, just to have it., check the paint codes to see color when made.
1970 … graduating high school … looking for my first car … not one but two 57’s sitting on a local used car lot. I fell in love with the black one with the port hole hardtop. I remember the price on the windshield was $2695.
Dad said no; that it was way too much and that I should look for a sensible car. It was a lot of money then, more than I had, and it probably was a pile in the traditional used car sense. Yeah, but … sigh!
My problem with the '55,'56,and '57 is the amount of them still around and showing up at car shows.The stying is fantastic but it seems everybody and their brother has one.I remember 20 years ago when a #2 condition T-Bird could be had all day long for $10,000.
…and the article is great,BTW.Now I understand what makes a series,“E” code so much more expensive than a, “C” or “D”,code model.
I didn’t have my magnet with me to check for the bondo, I usually do check that, I did take a look at the undercarriage and and checked the fenders and under the door jambs visually and tapping on it, but I definitely need to check with a magnet if we agree on price, I offered 30k.
Currently owning a '57 Bird, the one comparison to the Corvette and the Bird is the transmission. The Corvette came with a standard synchromesh 4 speed (I believe), whereas the Bird has a 3 speed non synchromesh 1st gear, this means full stop to put 1st gear in.
This is something to consider when buying the car as it can be an annoyance especially in city/town driving. Lastly the Bird also had an overdrive option to the standard tranny, makes life a little easier with that option.
What impresses me is what is not mentioned, anything about customizing or hotrodding them.
These cars are so desirable in their stock form. Most North American cars of this vintage are hot rodded with engine swaps, drive train replacements, and some customization.
These usually draw attention away from the stock versions. Only a few, Tbirds, Corvettes, consistently consistently escape their owners desire to personalize and up the performance of the original car. A personalized Tbird is rarely an improvement.
I bought my '56 in January after a 48-year wait. I love it as much as I thought I would. It’s my everyday driver, and it handles/performs well. My work is about 100 miles from my house, and I take it there 2-3 times weekly. It’s mileage is not good, by modern standards, and it prefers premium. Regardless, I couldn’t be more pleased.
Do as truck drivers have done for years—Double clutch/match the revs and it will drop right into gear.
We have a 55. Concourse. All extras added. Great cool car. Rare in the UK. Only 12 1955 tbirds road registered in Britain.
I currently drive a '57 T-Bird, 312, w/auto trans. I do love the car and it gets a lot of attention. When I bought it in 2012 it was a retirement present to myself but in rough condition. I replaced rockers, inner and outer, on both sides and put in a new floor, rugs, and much, much more.
My major problem with the car was overheating and the only fix was a pusher fan in front of the radiator. Another issue to watch out for is the fit of radial tires as they don’t always clear the fender skirts on the rear wheels.
If I had it to do over again, I’d stick with bias-ply tires. The other thing I did was convert to an electronic ignition and I painted it India White, a 1955 Chev. Belair color. Liked it much better than the harsh Colonial White of Ford.
The difficulty of obtaining a leak free rear main seal for the 312 V-8 is mentioned in the article. All Ford 272, 292, and 312 engines used a rope type rear main seal. I don’t know of any engine using this type of seal that did not have a leak problem. It seems to me that in the “old days” a certain amount of leakage was just considered normal.
I own a colonial white, tuxedo interior 312 “D” in great shape with both tops…black rag and matching white hard top…body is solid, chrome and glass are great, interior and dash and trunk interior look like new and one could eat off the engine…trying to obtain a fair price estimate.
It has gone through a complete restoration in the 90s… the paint isn’t “perfect” but I would rate it “very good”…any T-Bird experts out there that would venture a value in today’s market? Any help appreciated.
Have been the owner of a 1956 Thunderbird for 22 years. Equipped with 312 V8, automatic, both soft and hardtop and power nothing. An ongoing restoration project that elicits waves and ‘thumbs up’ signals from folks of all ages. Great for the ego!
Marvin Hill’s comment about the leaky automatic transmission being an expensive issue is correct (if the engine and transmission are pulled). However, the transmission shift seals (a $3.00 item) can be replaced, with effort, without removing the engine/transmission from the vehicle. I just accomplished this task on my vehicle last week. First time in many years that the transmission is leak free.
The Classic Thunderbird Club International (CTCI) provides huge support to members owning 1955-1957 T’birds … that’s where I found the ‘replace the shift seals without removing the engine/transmission’ tip. :grinning:
Back in 1966 for a high school graduation present, my dad financed a $900 purchase of a 10 year old Ford. Turned out it was a 'Bird. It was a typical Michigan rust bucket and I couldn’t afford to do the job right.
But nobody was doing that then anyway. Didn’t use Bondo per se, but I did fabricate fiberglass patches. I had the car for 18 years, and even took it to Fort Sill before I want to Viet Nam.
I had to sell it in 1984 when our twins were born after we already had a 4 year old. When I sold it for $5,000 it was a fair price considering the condition. It was a 3-speed O/D car with no power steering or brakes. I installed Mustang rally wheels and radials for better handling.and painted it 25th anniversary silver. Two tops, but the soft one was shot. Didn’t care.
I loved that car. Bought a garage find 37 Ford which is now a restorod and driven all over the country, but I still miss the 'Bird. Can’t afford one now. All that was written in the article is true.
It leaked, but not much after the last rebuild, and it handled great, especially after installing an Aadco rear sway bar. Bottom line for buying one? You can’t go wrong with any of them. Get what you can afford, and do with it what you wish.
I have a C code '57 Colonial white w/ two tone green interior. Came with a hardtop. Once I obtained a soft top never have used the hardtop again. It is stored in the back of my garage. I cal it a C+ because I installed overdrive. I still love it as much as the day we got it.
I think you have missed a couple of minor issues. 1. The 312 uses a rear main seal that is unique to the 312 as 292, 272, and 239s all use a different seal. By the way Mercury and Lincoln Y block engines are different from the Fords especially the cylinder port configuration.
@. There is a rarer DF of which there are very few and must have a provenance. The DF cars are coded D but have a super charger like the F code cars. DF cars differ slightly in the fuel filter and parts of the supercharger setup. Maybe a dozen or so of DF cars.
All of the engines from C to F were available throughout the Ford line for 1957. The rarest F code is probably a Ranchero. Rumored to have been only 2 produced.
I couldn’t agree more with recommendation to join ‘CTCI’ (Classic Thunderbird Club International). Lots of great articles and people that are always willing to help. Parts vendors for the 'Classic Birds) are great and I believe very reasonable in prices.
I’ve got two 57’s (an E and a D) and couldn’t be more pleased. As one person responded, having power steering is a real asset in this day and age. Don’t be intimidated by having to remove the engine.
With a reasonably priced engine hoist (about $100) I could take out the engine in about 45 minutes. Use an intake manifold plate attachment to make it easier. Also suggest to remove the radiator if you remove the transmission with the engine.
The biggest complaint about a standard transmission is the non-synchro low gear. Yes, I used to double clutch, but after a few decades of ‘oldness’ in these legs, a full synchro tranny is appreciated.
The 2005-July-August issue of the CTCI magazine (named the ‘Early Bird’) has a great article on putting a Borg-Warner 4 speed in WITHOUT cutting the floor pan and allowing you to return the car to stock without diminishing its value. I love having the 4 speed, and in fact converted my one car with automatic transmission to a stick shift, all reversible to stock without destroying any of the original items.
There are many other ‘reversible’ improvements many of the vendors and CTCI members have come up with over the years; disk brakes, electric windshield wipers, a look alike AM-FM modern radio, rear anti-sway bar, etc.
The oldest TBIRD club, Bay Area Thunderbird Owners Club, was founded in California in 1958 by Skip Riggs and is still going strong today. We maintain a membership of around 100 members and meet once a month and have club outings at least once a month. We’re dedicated to preserving the heritage of one of the automotive icons of the 20th century.
We purchased a '55 for my wife eight years ago for 28K. Never been sorry, it runs and drives like a new one. She loves it. Always get her whistles and, in my opinion, too much attention in parades and car shows. I recently purchased a '66 which is cool, but does not compare to her '55.
The Arizona Classic Thunderbird Club has a fix for the 312 overheating problem. It is a redesigned water pump spacer designed by our own Chris Ames. See our website http://www.arizonaclassicthunderbirds.org for more detail or PM me.
The Y Block Ford V-8 had a rope rear main seal but they now make a modern neoprene seal for them. I had a 1963 F100 4x4 that was like an old dog, left it’s mark every time you stopped, so bad in fact I would not park it in my own driveway. I replaced the seal with the neoprene one and problem solved. That truck went 297,400 miles before replacing the engine with another 292.
I just recently purchased a 1957 “D” two top body off restored Thunderbird from Amos Minter in Dallas. Having restored, in the past, a 1963 Daytona Blue, 327, 340hp split window Corvette, I can tell you that restoring a car is hard work and expensive.
This time I decided to purchase a fully restored after looking at hundreds of 57 Tbirds. When I purchased my 63 Corvette, I was told that to fully restore a car to concours quality double or triple the price you paid for the car. Triple was more like it to bring it up to NCRS quality.
As I am much older, it was worth the price to buy a car that was already as good or better than the original car from the factory. Of course, it was expensive, but if buying a driver there are many to choose from and at reasonable prices.
If you want one factory new then if like me I had to wait awhile to afford one. Either way, a great piece of automotive history to own and if you find a rust free one save it for a future restoration.
We see it as a slippery slope in the VW arena… Some “upgrades” may make sense…
Dual circuit master brake cylinder
Collapsible steering wheel column
Front disc brakes
some modifications (and usually the ones undertaken by people with the least amount of money or taste) would have been better off not done to the vehicle.
I only have one to contribute. My stepmom’s former husband had a silver 56 with a hard top in So Cali ages ago, but they traded it in for an RV. Not sure where that car is now, but I hope whoever has it appreciates it. His had the optional hard top as well. Don’t remember any details about the power train(hey, I was just a kid back then, give me a break.)
So far there has been no mention of the rocker arms starving for oil in the Y block design, due to the long distance the oil has to travel. Does that problem actually exist, and if so, has anyone seen a Y block with external oil lines running to the valve covers to lubricate the rockers?
I bought a 1956 Thunderbird in 2012 to drive and enjoy. My wife and I love to take it out on sunny days. We had it restored professionally to a very high level.
It has won several national awards, including an AACA Senior and Gold at the CTCI International Convention. Still, our real passion is driving the car. It is always greeted with smiles and thumbs up wherever we go.
We purchased our '57 T-Bird a couple of months ago. I agree that T-Birds like to “mark their territory” as I have found with our '57. There is a machined rear main that comes with silicone gaskets and is reported to stop the rear main leak…we shall see as it goes in the shop next week.
We did install PerfectFit a/c and it looks great! Had rack and pinion, power front disc brakes, upgraded aluminum radiator and ignition system. A classic design that looks like a shoe-box with a donut on top when under a car cover!!!
Values in U.K. for ones in very good not concours condition Paul ?
I live on Guernsey and tempted by a ‘55. Both tops, auto and all the extras. £2000 to ship. Sold mine when in US but this is nice so I’m tempted.
Great achievement Drayton. We saw and spoke with your wife at Knoxville during judging. Beautiful car.
Thanks for the kind words. Go ahead and buy that '55 Thunderbird that has tempted you. You won’t regret it. Hope to see you at the next CTCI event!
Hi there. For a good one here its about £30000 to £35,000, concourse around £50,000
Thanks Paul. Not worth doing in that case as it needs some work. Also need to find storage for it as a garage on Guernsey is not easy to find as a rental.
Nice to know though. Mine went cheap really but we had a lot of fun touring last two years in the US.
As an addendum to my earlier post: I recently drove to a T-bird convention in Flagstaff Arizona from Sacramento California in my 1957 C code Thunderbird. We took the long way home driving about 2000 miles.
The car is dependable and comfortable even for this long trip in a car over 60 years old. I call the car a C+ due to the addition of overdrive from a parts car for my 1957 Ranch Wagon. I have had the car over 20 years and wanted one since I was about 12 in 1960.
My late cousin was a “jock” in high school in the early '60s. His dad bought him a ragged 55 or 56 T-Bird. It would haul fanny down the road.
One winter day we were going duck hunting and I said “We’ll take our car ( a '62 ford) cause yours will drag on the rutted dirt roads”.
He didn’t reply and early Saturday morning rolled up in a newer, chicken-poop brown Falcon station wagon! I asked about his car, to which he replied," We traded, but they gave us a good deal!"
I never let him forget it either.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/04/24/1955-57-ford-thunderbird-buyers-guide
Billions of tiny white cockle shells form a beach aptly named Shell Beach at southern end of L'Haridon Bight in the Shark Bay region of Western Australia.
The beach stretches for 60 km (37 mi) with shells with depth of 7–10 m (23–33 ft).
Shark bay featuring a massive seagrass bank that blocks tidal inflow to the beach.
The seawater in the L'Haridon Bight has a high salinity due to both the geomorphology and local climate of the area.
This high salinity has allowed the cockle to proliferate unchecked, since its natural predators have not adapted well to this environment.
The volume of cockle shell in the beach becomes compressed into a special form of limestone called coquina which was mined and used for the construction of a number of buildings in Denham until the UNESCO protection began in 1991.
Today, special licenses are still granted to mine the shells as a source of calcium for mulch and poultry feed.
http://www.unbelievableinfo.com/2017/03/shell-beach-western-australia.html
Today, special licenses are still granted to mine the shells as a source of calcium for mulch and poultry feed.
http://www.unbelievableinfo.com/2017/03/shell-beach-western-australia.html
Sketch of Buddha at age 41 drawn
by one of his disciples while he was teaching.
Buddha, or Buddha Shakyamuni as he is known from the royal lineage of Shakyas of which he was a descendant, was born in 624 BC in present day Nepal.
The word Muni means the 'Able One', so Shakyamuni denoted an Able One born to the royal family of Shakyas.
Siddhartha Gautama, as he was also known prior to his renunciation, was born to a great Indian king. His mother died seven days after childbirth, but there was a prophecy that he would either be a great king or a religious leader some day.
Fearing the second prophecy, Gautama's father shielded him from religion, hardship for survival, and the vagaries of the outside world within a palace where he resided exclusively with his servants and retinue.
He was married by the age of 16, and lived in splendid isolation within the confines of the palace walls for the next 13 years.
One day, when he was around 29, he took his chariot outside the palace walls for the first time.
He saw a very old man, which his charioteer recounted was everyone's destiny, that everyone would grow old some day.
He then saw an ill man. a decaying corpse, and an ascetic.
His charioteer once again explained the men, and said that the ascetic had renounced everything to overcome his fear of death.
Siddhartha was greatly disturbed and anguished by what he saw, and the next day left his kingdom and family to pursue his path to relieve suffering and gain enlightenment.
Over the next six years, Siddhartha led an ascetic life along with five other ascetics.
His dedication was so profound that the other ascetics became his followers in due course of time.
When he still did not get answers, he redoubled his efforts at renunciation, starving himself of food and water at times, and enduring unbearable pain at other times.
One day while accepting a bowl of rice from a young girl, realization dawned on him that self denial was not the proper way to achieve salvation.
He ate the rice, drank water and bathed in a river.
His five followers felt Siddhartha had given up his asceticism and abandoned him, leaving Buddha to continue his search for truth and salvation alone.
Once, Siddhartha sat underneath a tree in a small village to rest after a long journey.
While meditating there, he understood the real path to free oneself of suffering.
He then began advocating the Middle Way, which really was a balanced path in life devoid of extreme means of self denial to achieve salvation and liberation.
He began being known as the Buddha, a Sanskrit word meaning a person who has been enlightened.
Buddha spent the rest of his life preaching through the length and breadth of the country, and continued doing so until he passed away around 483 BC at the old age of 80.
The Three Universal Truths
Buddha while meditating under a tree one day noticed that flowers were in full bloom while the trees were getting covered with new foliage.
He was appreciating the beautiful world around him when he noticed a farmer beating his ox, an earthworm being eaten by a bird, and then an eagle swooping down and killing the bird.
He started questioning himself about the necessity of killing another to survive in the world.
After some inner search, he realized the three great truths that led to his subsequent enlightenment
1. Everything is accounted for in the universe
The very basic understanding of Buddhism is that the sum total of the universe is always constant.
While a leaf that has fallen decays into the soil and then enriches it, a seed from the same tree sprouts and gives birth to a new plant.
We are born to our parents and our children are born to us.
The cycle of life progresses without hindrance, and that is what is really true and prevails in the world.
For example, destruction leads to further destruction, while cheating others is a way of cheating ourselves.
Buddha firmly believed in non-violence, and forbade killing animals to live in harmony with nature and the surrounding world.
2. Nothing around us is constant
Buddha also realized that everything around us is in a constant state of flux.
Life is never steady, sometimes it flows without hindrance and other times is obstructed by failures and disappointments.
Evolution has seen the extinction of some species and development of new ones, yet the world has remained unchanged and the flow of life unhindered.
3. Changes Due to Cause and Effect
Buddha explained "Karma" as something that happens as a consequence of our actions.
Our life today is the result of our past deeds.
https://www.facebook.com/GailThackrayPage/
The thoughts and actions we have today will ultimately determine the way we live later.
Thus, every moment is new to us and we create new Karma through what we say and behave.
This is similar to Newton's Third Law which says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
This is also where Buddhism and science seem to meet.
With this view, Buddha had said,
"The kind of seed sown
will produce that kind of fruit.
Those who do good will reap good results.
Those who do evil will reap evil results.
If you carefully plant a good seed,
You will joyfully gather good fruit."
Buddhism promotes a simple way
of living.
The religion is based on five simple precepts of not to kill, steal, lie, to stay away from intoxicants, and not to engage in sexual relations outside societal norms.
The religion makes one aware of the fundamental faults and weaknesses within a person that one should consciously try to avoid.
It also explains the cause of most inter-personal problems being animosity, hatred and intolerance of others.
When we practice self control, we are able to control the cause of such turmoil within.
Buddha understood that hatred only begets furtherance, thus leading to ultimate destruction.
To overcome that, he advocated leading a virtuous life entwined with love, kindness and compassion.
If we are able to lead a life that has been preached by Buddha, there will neither be hatred, nor rivalry, competition or intolerance in the world.
To achieve that, the mind needs to be controlled through meditation to offer it a soothing calmness to tackle any adverse situation.
That is essentially what the world needs today, rid of its tensions, mutual distrust, hatred and intolerance to make it a safer and better place to live now and forever.
The religion is based on five simple precepts of not to kill, steal, lie, to stay away from intoxicants, and not to engage in sexual relations outside societal norms.
The religion makes one aware of the fundamental faults and weaknesses within a person that one should consciously try to avoid.
It also explains the cause of most inter-personal problems being animosity, hatred and intolerance of others.
When we practice self control, we are able to control the cause of such turmoil within.
Buddha understood that hatred only begets furtherance, thus leading to ultimate destruction.
To overcome that, he advocated leading a virtuous life entwined with love, kindness and compassion.
If we are able to lead a life that has been preached by Buddha, there will neither be hatred, nor rivalry, competition or intolerance in the world.
To achieve that, the mind needs to be controlled through meditation to offer it a soothing calmness to tackle any adverse situation.
That is essentially what the world needs today, rid of its tensions, mutual distrust, hatred and intolerance to make it a safer and better place to live now and forever.
“You only lose what you cling to.”
— ― Gautama Buddha
While doing fieldwork on Buddhist
monasticism, on 30 July 2005, I saw an unusual image of Śākyamuni
Buddha, strikingly different from any other Buddha image I had seen
previously.
I was in Taiwan’s Jinmen County 金門縣, Da Jinmen 大金門 Island, Huguo Monastery 護國寺.
Unlike other pictures of Śākyamuni, this image was executed in a “realistic” manner—that is, in a style mimicking photographic verisimilitude— depicting Śākyamuni as an ordinary man.
I was in Taiwan’s Jinmen County 金門縣, Da Jinmen 大金門 Island, Huguo Monastery 護國寺.
Unlike other pictures of Śākyamuni, this image was executed in a “realistic” manner—that is, in a style mimicking photographic verisimilitude— depicting Śākyamuni as an ordinary man.
The location and framing of the picture in what serves as a monastic study room suggests that the resident monk found it conducive to reflection or inspiration, whereas the lack of censers, divination sticks, or offerings of water or fruit suggest that it was not treated as a living icon, that is, as an object of worship that can provide advice and grant requests.
The portrait was surrounded by the following three inscriptions:
(1) Along the top, the title, “Śākyamuni Buddha.”
(2) Along the sides, a verse from Kumārjīva’s translation of the Diamond Sutra:
“All constructed dharmas/ Are like dreams, mirages, bubbles, and shadows/ Like dew and like lightning/ In this manner they should be observed” (T 235: 8.752b28-29).
(3) At the bottom, a description: “This portrait of Śākyamuni Buddha when he was forty-one sui 歲 [about 40 years old] was drawn in person from life by his disciple, the Venerated [=Arhat] Pūrṇa, and later it received inscriptions and the addition of color.
It was originally displayed in the English Royal Museum [=British Museum?] as a precious national treasure.”
This description is dated “Renchen 壬辰 Year of the Republic,” which corresponds to most of 1952 and to the beginning of 1953.
Extensive, multilingual Internet searchs in November 2007 revealed that this image or closely related images had spread to some two dozen websites and blogs, mainly but not exclusively in the Chinese language world.
These sites ranged from official websites of serious Buddhist organizations to informal blogs to a site promoting tourism in China.
Some bloggers offered the image pious praise and digital flowers while others claimed the image was a forgery.
One author, who had seen a similar image venerated by a monk in his quarters in Beijing, wrote at length that the image was a creation of Māra.
The image I saw, which I call the “Jinmen Śākyamuni,” differs from most traditional depictions of Śākyamuni in the following ways:
(1) It is a bust rather than a depiction of his entire body.
(2) It is composed in a style mimicking photographic realism.
(3) It depicts none of the Buddha’s unusual physiognomic traits.
(4) It depicts Śākyamuni as a middle-aged, foreign, possibly Indian man, rather than as an ageless divinity.
(5) It is in three-quarters view rather than frontal.
(6) It claims to be a true likeness that was drawn from life by a disciple.
In several ways these images appear to be something new in the history of Buddhism: I am aware of no other images that depict Śākyamuni in this manner that have ever been treated as objects of contemplation or worship.
Nevertheless, there are related historical precedents, such as depictions of Śākyamuni as a middle-aged, foreign man, sometimes in three-quarters view, which began to appear during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and continued to be produced until modern times.
Often they depict Śākyamuni before his enlightenment.
For instance, Liang Kai’s 梁楷 Śākyamuni Emerging from the Mountains (13th c.) depicts Śākyamuni in three-quarters view as a middle-aged, foreign man with dark hair on both his head and face.
In Liang's painting, Śākyamuni’s unusual physiognomic traits are minimized, although he clearly still has a bald, cranial protuberance and unnaturally long ears.
Other Southern Song and Yuan (1271-1368) period paintings of this same scene likewise depict the Buddha in a similar, “humanized” manner. Some versions even show him wearing an earring, as he does in the Jinmen image.
The framing and composition of the Jinmen image also resembles portraits of deceased abbots and lineage ancestors or “patriarchs.”
Such portraits, produced from Tang times onwards, were displayed in a special room in the monastery called an ancestors’ hall (zutang 祖堂), portrait hall (zhentang 真堂), or founder’s hall (kaishantang 開山堂), and depicted deceased lineage masters in a lifelike manner, often showing the entire body in a frontal view.
Such portraits are by no means limited to the Chan school or even to Buddhism, and are a common part of the Chinese ancestor cult.
Buddhist ancestor portraits are often inscribed with a poem, sometimes written by the depicted ancestor himself and called a self-eulogy (zizan 自讚).
Similarly, as described previously, the “Jinmen Śākyamuni” is inscribed with Śākyamuni’s own words, namely a famous verse from the Diamond Sutra.
The production of such monastic ancestral images continues into the present, although often as photographs rather than as paintings (examples: figs. 2 and 3).
A number of influential twentieth and twenty-first century
Buddhist teachers and organizations tend to historicize and humanize
Śākyamuni.
For instance, the Indian Ambedkar strongly opposed ideas that the Buddha was anything other than a human being, and Taiwanese nun Zhengyan 證嚴 (of Ciji Foundation) emphasizes that the Buddha should be understood more as a person to emulate than as a deity to supplicate.
In a similar vein, Taiwanese monk Shengyan 聖嚴 (of Dharma Drum Mountain) writes that images of Buddhas should be understood as symbols to help focus one’s mind rather than as icons (living entities).
Yet the Buddha images produced by these and other modernist organizations are still traditional in that they depict the Buddha as an ageless being with features such as a cranial protuberance.
For instance, the Indian Ambedkar strongly opposed ideas that the Buddha was anything other than a human being, and Taiwanese nun Zhengyan 證嚴 (of Ciji Foundation) emphasizes that the Buddha should be understood more as a person to emulate than as a deity to supplicate.
In a similar vein, Taiwanese monk Shengyan 聖嚴 (of Dharma Drum Mountain) writes that images of Buddhas should be understood as symbols to help focus one’s mind rather than as icons (living entities).
Yet the Buddha images produced by these and other modernist organizations are still traditional in that they depict the Buddha as an ageless being with features such as a cranial protuberance.
Given modernist, humanizing forces worldwide, might a fully humanized image of Śākyamuni one day catch hold and enter into the mainstream of Buddhist iconography?
Might a “realistic” true likeness of Śākyamuni appear—a modern-day Udayana Buddha—that would replicate far and wide, as did the Christian Veronica, Image of Edessa, and Shroud of Turin?
If so, such a representation would have to overcome not only ordinary skepticism but also the weight of Buddhist textual and artistic precedent, which indicate that the Buddha always looked different from an ordinary human.
Note 1: The author who claimed one of these “realistic” Śākyamuni images was the work of Māra managed to contact Roderick Whitfield, a scholar formerly employed as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum, to see if there was any such image in the museum.
He reported that Whitfield replied: “There is nothing remotely like this at the British Museum,” and in an email dated 6 December 2007, Whitfield confirmed to me that he had indeed made that statement.
Note 2: The third and fourth links to images, above, were no longer active as of 25 March 2013.
However, I found another interesting image with a printed caption in Bahasa Indonesia, with a handwritten caption in Chinese, here.
This makes me wonder if this family of images may have originated in Indonesia.
On 25 March 2013, Jack Chia helpfully translated the Bahasa caption into English, as follows:
The Real Face of the Gautama Buddha[Wajah Sang Budha Gautama Yang Sesungguhnya]
This rare image is currently stored in the Museum of London, England. It was painted by one of the disciples of the Buddha - Ariya Purnamaitrayaniputra - at the time when the Buddha was 49 years old.
This rare image is currently stored in the Museum of London, England. It was painted by one of the disciples of the Buddha - Ariya Purnamaitrayaniputra - at the time when the Buddha was 49 years old.
As we can see, it says basically the same thing as the Chinese does.
Chia suggests that the image may have been the creation of a new school of Indonesian Buddhism, the Buddhayana, for which see Brown, Iem. 1987.
“Contemporary Indonesian Buddhism and Monotheism.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 18:1 (March): 108-117.
For background on that article, see the same author’s “The Revival of Buddhism in Modern Indonesia,” in Hinduism in Modern Indonesia (2004).
Thanks to William Ma for pointing out this image to me, and to Jack Chia for the translation and advice.
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~dmgildow/1.1.html
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~dmgildow/5.6.html
Oldest Buddha Statue from Bodh Gaya, 383 CE
In the Dhammadayada Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya the Buddha says: “Monks, be heirs of my Dhamma, not heirs of material things.”
Obviously the Buddha wanted his disciples to give more attention to his liberating teaching than to things like his bodily remains or personal possessions.
Nonetheless, after his parinirvana his disciples felt deeply his absence and longed for some form of closeness to their beloved teacher.
In time, this led to the cult of relics.
If also led to a great interest in what the Buddha looked like.
There are many references in the Tipitaka to the Buddha’s personal appearance.
The Anguttara Nikaya says: “It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene the good Gotama’s presence is, how clear and radiant his complexion.”
In the Sonadanda Sutta, he is described as being “fair in color, fine in presence, stately to behold”.
Although these and other passages from the suttas make it clear that the Buddha was extraordinarily handsome, they are only descriptions.
Devotees wanted more than that, they wanted to actually see the Buddha’s face.
Consequently legend gradually developed that several very ancient and exceptionally beautiful Buddha statues were not just artists impressions of the Buddha but actual portraits of him.
The most famous of these statues was at Bodh Gaya.
The earliest Buddha statue found at Bodh Gaya and now in the Indian Museum in Calcutta dates from the year 383 CE.
Although much damaged it is still an impressive piece of sculpture, the facial features in particular showing serenity yet determination.
In about the first half of the 5th century, a statue was installed in the then newly built Mahabodhi Temple and within a very short time the belief arose that this statue was a portrait of the Buddha.
It came to be known as the Image of the True Face or more commonly, as the Mahabodhi Image.
The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang who visited Bodh Gaya in the 7th century has left us this detailed description of the Mahabodhi Image.
“He (the statue) was facing the east and as dignified in appearances as when alive.
The throne on which he sits was 4 feet 2 inches high and 12 feet 5 inches broad.
The figure was 11 feet 5 inches high, the two knees were 8 feet 8 inches apart and the two shoulders 6 feet 2 inches.
The Buddha’s features are perfectly depicted and the loving expression of his face lifelike.
The statue stands in a dark chamber in which lamps and torches are kept burning, but those who wish to see the sacred features cannot do so by coming into the chamber.
In the morning they have to reflect the sunlight onto the statue by means of a great miror so that the details can be seen.
Those who behold them find their religious emotions much increased”.
The story concerning the statue’s origins as told to Xuanzang is as follows.
The brahmin who built the Mahabodhi Temple wished to enshrine a statue in it but for a long time no suitable sculpture could be found.
Eventually, a man appeared who said he could do the job.
He asked that a pile of scented clay and a lighted lamp be placed in the temple chamber and the door be locked for six months.
This was done but being impatient the brahmin opened the door four days before the required time.
Inside was found a statue of surpassing beauty, perfect in every detail except for a small part of the breast which was unfinished.
Some time later, a monk who spent the night in the chamber had a dream in which Maitreya appeared to him and said that it was he who had moulded the statue.
Six hundred years later the Tibetan pilgrim Dharmasvamin was told a story about the image’s origins reminiscent to this one but differing from it in details, indicating that the legends were constantly evolving.
According to Dharmasvamin, three brothers fell into an argument about which religion was the better.
On being told that Buddhism was inferior to others the youngest brother went crying to his mother.
She called the three boys and told them to go to the Himalayas and ask Mahesvara for his opinion.
Mahesvara of course confirmed the younger brother’s belief in the supremacy of Buddhism and all three brothers decided to become monks.
The eldest built a monastery at Veluvana, the second built one at Isipatana and not to be outdone, the youngest brother decided to make a Buddha statue for the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya.
In a dream he was told to get material consisting of one part precious substances, one part fragrant substances and one part sandalwood paste, place it in the main shrine of the Temple and to keep the door closed for a particular period of time.
This was done but he opened the door before the appointed time and inside found the statue complete except for the little toe on the right foot.
The mother of the three boys who had known the Buddha when she was a young girl, declared that the statue was exactly like the Buddha except in four respects.
Where as the Buddha’s usina was invisible, it could be seen on the statue, the Buddha moved but the statue did not, it could not teach the Dhamma and it did not radiate light.
In Buddhism Buddha statues are expressions of devotion of the artists who make them and aids to contemplation to those who worship them and therefore it is not correct to say that “Buddhists worship idols”.
That this is not a new idea, a modern rationalization, is amply proved by the writings of Robert Knox who, in the 17th century, described the Kandyans attitude to Buddha statues thus: “As for these images, they say they do not own them to be gods themselves but only figures representing their Gods to their memories, and as such, they give them honor and worship.”
Nonetheless, the Mahabodhi Image was sometimes worshipped as if it were the Buddha himself; food was offered to it and devotees would drape robes over it.
The Chinese monk, Yijing who visited Bodh Gaya in the 7th century wrote: “Afterwards we came to the Mahabodhi Temple and worshipped the Image of the True Face of the Buddha.
I took bolts of thick and fine silk which had been given to me by the monks and laymen of Shantung, made a robe to it the size of the Tathagata and myself offered it to the image.
Many myriads of small canopies which were entrusted to me by the Vinaya master Huien of Pu I offered on his behalf.
The meditation master teacher An Tao of Ts’ao asked me to worship the Image and I did this in his name.
Then I prostrated myself completely on the ground with my mind undivided, sincere and respectful.
Firstly, I wished that China might experience the four benefits and that those benefits might prevail throughout the whole universe.
Then I expressed the desire to be reborn under the Naga tree so that as to meet Maitriya and practice the true Dhamma and realise the knowledge not subject to rebirth.”
A Chinese inscription found to the north of the Temple written by the monk Ko Yun in 1022 says of the image: “The great hero Maitreya out of compassion for all beings left them the real likeness — The image is respected by the heterodox, cherished by the discerning and although 2000 years old its face remains new.”
The inscription also tells us that Ko Yun and his companions draped the Image with a robe made of silk that they had bought with them all the way from China for the purpose.
This practice of putting robes on the statue in the main shrine of the Mahabodhi Temple continues even today.
As time went by the image was even believed to be able to speak perhaps such a belief should not surprise us too much.
Many people in the theistic religions believe that their god talks to them in dreams or in prayer.
In fact, one of the last references we have to the Mahabodhi Image mentions it speaking. In 1300, the Tibetan Tantric adept Man-luns-po travelled to Bodh Gaya and made a vow before the Mahabodhi Image to neither eat or drink until it spoke to him.
After waiting eighteen days he got his wish when the statue said: “Oh son of noble family!
Proceed to Mount Potala and there practice in the manner of Bodhisatvas in the presence of Avaloktesvara.”
The details of Man-luns-po’s subsequent journey suggest that that he did actually go to the sacred mountain in Kerala.
Being as it were the most lifelike symbol of the Buddha, the Mahabodhi Image attracted the attention of devoted Buddhists but also those who hated and wanted to destroy Buddhism.
The most notorious of these was the fanatical Saivite Bengali king Sasanka.
Early in the 7th century, his minions attacked Bodh Gaya with the intention of destroying the Mahabodhi Image.
Xuanzang relates what happened.
“King Sasanka wished to destroy this image but having seen its loving expression his mind had no rest or determination and he returned homeward with his retinue.
On this way he said to one of his officers, ‘We must remove the statue of the Buddha and replace it with one of Mahesvara.’
The officer having received this order was moved with fear and sighing said, ‘If destroy the statue of the Buddha I will reap misfortune for many kalpas.
If on the other hand I disobey the king he will kill me and my family. I am doomed whether I obey or not.
What then shall I do?’
On this, he called to his presence a man who was a Buddhist to help him and sent him to build across the chamber and in front of the Buddha statue a wall of brick.
Out of a feeling of shame at the darkness placed a burning lamp in with the statue and then on the wall drew the figure of Mahesvara.
The work being finished he reported it to the king who was suddenly seized with terror. His body became covered with sores, his flesh rotted off and after a while he died. Then the officer quickly ordered the wall to be pulled down and although several days had elapsed the lamp was found to be still burning.”
In the 13th century Bodh Gaya came under attack again, this time by Muslim invaders, and the monks used a similar strategy to save the Mahabodhi Image.
Dharmasvamin tells us: “They blocked up the door in front of the Mahabodhi Image with bricks and plastered it, near it they places another image as a substitute.
On its surface they drew an image of Mahesvara to protect it from the non-Buddhists.”
Dharmasvamin was also told that formerly the Mahabodhi Image had two beautiful gems in its eyes that emitted a light so bright that it was possible to read by it.
During a lightning raid a little before his visit a soldier had put a ladder against the image and prised the eyes out.
As he was climbing down he slipped and fell, dropping the gems and smashing them, after which their light grew dim. The Tibetan historian Taranatha tells us a legend he heard about the origins of these gems.
He relates that when the man who had built the Mahabodhi Temple had placed the statue in it, he happened to find a wondrous self-illuminating gem.
When he expressed regret that he had nor not found the gem earlier two holes a suddenly appeared in the statue’s eyes.
As he prepared to cut the gem in to two, so he could put it in the statue’s sockets, a second gem miraculously appeared.
The Mahabodhi Image had a considerable influence on art in India other parts of Asia through copies of it which were taken to various Buddhist countries.
Baladitya’s huge temple at Nalanda had a life size copy of the statue in as did the main temple at Vikramasila.
When the Chinese pilgrim Yijing returned home in 698 he brought with him a picture of the statue and presented it to the Fo Shou Chi Monastery.
The Chinese envoy Wang Hiuen Ts’e made four separate trips to India, visiting Bodh Gaya during two of them.
He returned from his last trip with a model of the Mahabodhi Image which he deposited in the Imperial Palace.
He also found himself flooded with requests from people in the capital for copies of the statue.
The Tibetan monks Chag Gar-com (1153-1216) is said to have made a copy of the statue and enshrined it in a temple especially built for the purpose.
He first saw the original during a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya where each day he would buy flowers in the market and strew over the statue.
A Buddha statue the same dimensions as the image was installed in the great stupa at Gyantse in Tibet in 1421.
The measurements for this copy were obtained from Sariputra, the last abbot of Bodh Gaya, when he passed through Tibet on his way to China in 1413.
This copy can still be seen in the topmost shrine on the east side of the great stupa of Gyantse.
In the 19th century, a Buddha statue in the earth witnessing gesture was found near the Sri Mahabodhi in Anuradhapura, the only such statue from ancient Sri Lanka.
Although I have no proof I suspect that this also was a copy of the Mahabodhi Image.
Nor was sculpture the only art form influenced by this famous statue.
The origin of one ancient India style of painting pictures of the Buddha was traced back to an impression made by smearing the Mahabodhi Image with yellow sandalwood paste and pressing a cotton cloth on it.
When the Tibetan monk Dharmasvamin was in Bodh Gaya in 1234 he said the Mahabodhi Image was still attracting devotees.
He wrote of it: “One is never satiated to behold such an image and has no desire to go and behold another.
Even people of little faith when standing in front of the image feel it impossible not to shed tears.”
The last reference to the Mahabodhi Image is an inscription from about the 15th century carved on a stone railing around the Mahabodhi Temple.
It was written by a Buddhist pilgrim from “the mountainous country of Parvata” named Jinadasa and specifically mentions that he had come all the way from his home to gaze at the Mahabodhi Image.
Statue in Mahabodhi Temple Today
After that the statue was lost to the world, perhaps it was destroyed by Islamic iconoclasts although there is no record of this.
For nearly 500 years the asana inside the Mahabodhi Temple stood empty.
In 1877, the embassy sent by the king of Burma to repair the Mahabodhi Temple installed a statue inside it but this was a rather unattractive image made out of old bricks and plaster.
Then in 1880, Joseph Beglar was commissioned by the Indian government to repair the Temple.
His unofficial adviser in this task was the great archaeologist Alexander Cunningham.
After work on the Temple was finished the two men felt that there was still something missing, a fitting statue in its main shrine.
Numerous Buddha statues were lying all around Bodh Gaya but on examination they were all found to be unsuitable, either too small, damaged or of Bodhisattvas rather than of the Buddha himself.
Finally a statue was located in a small shrine in the Mahant’s residence, the Hindu monk who laid claim to own Bodh Gaya village and its temple.
The statue was undamaged, with fine feature and just the right size, neither too small so as to look insignificant in the shrine or too large so as to make it appear cluttered.
The fragmentary inscription on the base of this statue says that it was commissioned by the Chhindha Purnabhadra in about the 12th century.
When Cunnimgham asked the Mahant if he could have the statue he refused.
But he was a resourceful man and he finally was able to pry it from the Mahants grip.
What promises, flattery or threats he used we do not know.
Today this statue sits in the Mahabodhi Temple, its serene and being gaze looking down on those who come from all over the world to worship it.
https://www.bhantedhammika.net/essays/the-buddhas-true-face
In one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read, Pygmy Kitabu, Belgian anthropologist Dr. Jean-Pierre Hallet relates numerous detailed legends of the Pygmy people of the Ituri Forest in the Congo, including their origin and savior myths.
Hallet, who spent some 30 years living off and on with the Pygmies, including one 18-month stint completely immersed with the Efé people, relies not only on his own copious firsthand experiences but also the works of other scientists, such as the Jesuit missionary and anthropologist Dr. Paul Schebesta, who likewise lived among and visited the Ituri Forest people for many years from the 1920s to through the 1950s.
As have been others who studied the Pygmies, both scientists were stunned to discover what appeared to be the origins of much biblical and other religious traditions, and both were quite certain that these isolated people were completely uninfluenced by any outside agencies, including Christian missionaries. Indeed, in Pygmy Kitabu, Hallet spends considerable time essentially proving that the Pygmy legends are their own homegrown stories, possibly representing the earliest such traditions still extant anywhere in the world.
“Hallet does a thorough job addressing criticisms that the Pygmy were influenced by other cultures, such as the Judeo-Christian.”
In other words, Hallet does a thorough job addressing criticisms that the Pygmies were influenced by other cultures, such as the Judeo-Christian – indeed, he addresses this contention throughout the book, which is seemingly written for just such a purpose. It is obvious that critics who continue to bring up this issue of possible influence have not read his book; hence, they cannot be deemed experts on the subject.
Hallet first shows that the Pygmies are certainly one of the oldest races on Earth. He then demonstrates that their legends and myths are likely the basis of much Egyptian myth, which in turn influenced biblical stories. Hence, there is no need to suppose that the Pygmies were influenced by Bible stories. In reality, there is absolutely no evidence of any such influence, including and especially in the Pygmy language, which would have reflected biblical intrusions such as the names of “Jesus” and “Moses,” etc.
In this regard, Hallet with his colleague Alex Pelle also created an 8,000-word Efé lexicon that reveals some stunning comparisons to various Indo-European languages, including and especially Germanic ones such as Old Norse/Norwegian. Again, it appears that this old and isolated people may be the originators of much language as well.
“In the Pygmy religion, we discover an apparently very ancient account of the ‘Garden of Eden,’ as well as a Father God and a mortal savior who overcomes evil.”
In the Pygmy religion and mythology, we discover an apparently very ancient account of the “Garden of Eden,” as well as a Father God and a mortal savior who overcomes evil. Moreover, in the Pygmy traditions we also find equivalents to the biblical Exodus story, as well as much Egyptian, Semitic, Indian and Scandinavia mythology.
The Pygmy account of the first man and the “garden” is detailed and reflects Pygmy culture and surroundings, without a hint of any external influence. The extra details, in fact, are indicative of this tale being an original source that was pared down over the millennia, as it passed through various lands and among a variety of peoples. The tale is remarkably like the biblical account in germane ways but clearly not derived therefrom, as the differences prove.
Remarkably, the Pygmy origin story largely revolves around a monotheistic God the Father who resides in heaven, as was related to Hallet by Efé elders of the Erengeti region:
One fine day in heaven, God told his chief helper to make the first man. The angel of the moon descended. He modeled the first man from earth, wrapped a skin around the earth, poured blood into the skin, and punched holes for the nostrils, eyes, ears and mouth. He made another hole in the first man’s bottom, and put all the organs in his insides. Then he breathed his own vital force into the little earthen statue. He entered into the body. It moved… It sat up… It stood up… It walked. It was Efé, the first man and father of all who came after.
God said to Efé, “Beget children to people my forest. I shall give them everything they need to be happy. They will never have to work. They will be lords of the earth. They will live forever. There is only one thing I forbid them. Now–listen well–give my words to your children, and tell them to transmit this commandment to every generation. The tahu tree is absolutely forbidden to man. You must never, for any reason, violate this law.”
Efé obeyed these instructions. He, and his children, never went near the tree. Many years passed. Then God called to Efé, “Come up to heaven. I need your help!” So Efé went up to the sky. After he left, the ancestors lived in accordance with his laws and teachings for a long, long time.
Then, one terrible day, a pregnant woman said to her husband, “Darling, I want to eat the fruit of the tahu tree.” He said, “You know that is wrong.” She said, “Why?” He said, “It is against the law.” She said, “That is a silly old law. Which do you care about more–me, or some silly old law?”
“There it was–the forbidden tree of God. The sinner picked a tahu fruit.” They argued and argued. Finally, he gave in. His heart pounded with fear as he sneaked into the deep, deep forest. Closer and closer he came. There it was–the forbidden tree of God. The sinner picked a tahu fruit. He peeled the tahu fruit. He hid the peel under a pile of leaves.
Then he returned to camp and gave the fruit to his wife. She tasted it. She urged her husband to taste it. He did. All of the other Pygmies had a bit. Everyone ate the forbidden fruit, and everyone thought that God would never find out.
https://www.facebook.com/xu.xauxau
Meanwhile, the angel of the moon watched from on high. He rushed a message to his master: “The people have eaten the fruit of the tahu tree!” God was infuriated. “You have disobeyed my orders,” he said to the ancestors. “For this you will die!” (Hallet, 144-5)
Another version has God creating the man and woman, and placing them in the forest, where they wanted for nothing. However, after the woman gets pregnant, she desperately desires the tahu fruit, and forces the man to pick it for her, much to his objection. Angered, God says:
“You broke your promise to me! And you pulled that poor man into sin! Now I’m going to punish you: both of you will find out what it is to work hard and be sick and die. But you, woman, since you made the trouble first, you will suffer the most. Your babies will hurt you when they come, and you will always have to work for the man you betrayed.” (Hallet, 119)
“There is no reason to suspect that the Pygmy ‘Garden of Eden’ story is anything but original, and there is much reason to suggest it may well be the oldest account we possess.”
In the Pygmy origins legend, we find a sky-god father-figure; a man created out of earth; a paradisaical “garden” or, appropriately, forest; a forbidden tree/fruit; and a woman blamed for the downfall of mankind, for which she is punished by pain in childbirth–motifs all found in the Bible. As noted, this story is detailed in ways absent from the biblical version, contains language and imagery appropriate for a Pygmy setting, and reveals no intrusions from external influences whatsoever.
There is no reason to suspect that the Pygmy “Garden of Eden” story is anything but original, and there is much reason to suggest it may well be the oldest account we possess–and the first. What this development suggests, of course, is that the biblical account did not originate in the Middle East and was not originally handed down to Semitic “chosen people.” The same can be said for other biblical myths, such as the Exodus and Christ stories, both of which appear to have emanated from the same Pygmy source as well.
In Pygmy Kitabu, Jean-Pierre Hallet discusses an array of intriguing facts and legends of the little-known Pygmy culture. The highlight of his many observations is the meticulously documented evidence that the African Pygmies are actually the surviving roots of man’s racial, religious and linguistic origin, that they are the direct ancestors of all the races.
Remarkable parallels exist between the Pygmy legends and the legends of many world cultures-especially the Egyptians and Judeo-Christian. Today the Pygmies still tell the original myths of Osiris, Isis and Horus-the murdered father, immaculate mother, and avenging son, whose story is regarded by most Egyptologists as an older version of the Christ story.
The Pygmies also recount the original Adam and Eve legend, the giving of commandments, and the second coming of the Pygmy messiah. Since before the rather recent invasion by the Negro tribes, the Ituri Pygmies were isolated from the rest of the world for some 4,000 years, they could not have been “indoctrinated” by any other cultures or missionaries.
Through this new study, modern man can trace his origins back to the “Center of the Earth” at the foot of the fabled Mountains of the Moon, near the historical Source of the Nile-the true “Garden of Eden.”
The book was written almost 40 years ago. The terminology I am using here is in order to convey an idea to the public, not to present an anthropological monograph for other anthropologists. The point is understood, without needing to bring in complex DNA studies and talk of haplogroups, etc., although those would be of interest as well – and they do in fact prove that the Pygmies are one of the oldest “races,” cultures, groups, ethnicities or whatever you prefer. No need to get pedantic here.
I would wager that you have not read the book and do not know the evidence presented therein; nor, I’m guessing, did you spend some 30 years on and off living with these people to know whether or not they were telling the truth. To immediately cast aspersions on the character, honesty and intelligence of Hallet and his Pygmy friends is really quite egregious.
Hallet addresses the notion of possible Jewish and Christian influence throughout the book, showing how it was not possible and is not necessary to explain the presence of these myths. As I say in my article, the myths are perfectly suited to the environs and, to my knowledge through Hallet’s work, show no foreign intrusions whatsoever.
According to Hallet, the Pygmy language was not widely known, and the various missionaries – who were not far from where he was – were completely unable to communicate in Pygmy, although the Pygmies themselves are frequently multilingual in other languages such as Bantu. In any event, according to Hallet, the only things the Pygmies got from the missionaries were addicting cigarettes and candy.
Nobody has said that the creation myth isn’t common in many cultures. I’ve been studying myths for several decades, and I am quite aware that these myths can be found in other cultures – that’s the whole point, in reality, so thanks for verifying that fact. Now we need to explain to the public why THEY don’t know these facts that you take for granted?
In my opinion, after having studied the origins of religion for many years, Hallet has more than proved his case that the Pygmy legends are their own and that they are the source of much religious ideation with which we are familiar today.
Also in my opinion, this is a very important book that needs to be studied today, rather than a disrespectful and arrogant handwaving dismissal. If the Pygmies are indeed the fount of much culture – which the ancient Egyptians themselves contended – then they should not be treated in this fashion and allowed to go extinct. Even if they are not an important source, they should not be allowed to go extinct.
Yeah, but when did people start wearing them around their necks? The Egyptians wore Ankhs around their necks, but crosses only appear in the early centuries of Christianity.
There is clearly a Judeo-Christian influence here. The tip-off is that “they will live forever.” The absurd lengths of the lives of the Hebrew patriarchs result from an attempt to fill the 1200-year gap between Noah/Menes and Ham/Hammurabi, both of whom the Hebrews borrowed from foreign peoples (Egyptians and Babylonians).
What you have to keep in mind is that there were trade relations between southern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa into Roman Imperial times. Where do you think those lions came from that they fed with Christians, and the African animals used in the Roman circuses?
Actually crosses show up very early in Christianity. They were first a form of the letter Tav/Tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, used to indicate completion. People who repented and went into the mikveh (or a natural water body) were considered purified and some Jewish sects of the day marked them with a Tav, which looked like a letter X in some forms. Only later was the X turned to become a +, and used to also represent the crucifiction, by which Jesus was though to have achieved the completion of his mission.
But yes, the cross, in a variety of forms, turns up in almost every culture and is often a sun or earth symbol. It is a very simple form, too simple and common for anything to be deduced from its mere presence in a culture. Many more complex forms than that have cross cultural forms that arose each on their own.
The cross was also used in Egypt and Nubia. You can look it up and you will see crosses etched in the hieroglyphs next to the Ankh. Africans did NOT need Europeans for myths, legends and historical accounts. Those myths and legends were taken to Europe. The liberal arts were taken to Europe from Africa as the Grand Lodges and Universities were 1st set up in Africa. Lastly the Hebrews never existed.
Those people mistakenly called Hebrews were Africans ie Kush*tes/Ethiopians whom were NOT foreign to the Egyptians as the Egyptians were descendants from the Ethiopians. As far as Lions in Europe….Africans were in Europe ie Greece and Rome long before the stereotypical pale European was. Some lions could have come from Asia before they went extinct.
I believe that you are right about all that you’ve said apart from your opinion on Hebrews, you said they didn’t exist but they were/are Africans, however in the bible they weren’t described as Africans as Africa hadn’t existed yet for those so called Hebrew to inhabit yet however it was later given by god to his people as he describled the land flowing in milk and honey it was a gift from God to his people.
Do you believe it would make sense for God (all knowing) God to say ‘my people will be brought back to the land of Israel’ in the book of Revelation which signifes it is when Jesus (which I believe to be God in human form) comes back in his second coming to Save humanity from Sin.
He is referring to the so called Africans which I believe to be the Real Hebrew to be brought back to their lane rather the people that are living there right now since 1948, which means that in the people’s eyes that live there right now the second coming of Jesus has come, this utter abomination.
I am an anthropologist and archaeologist. This idea that Pygmy people have a creation story that is untouched by their own past and the past of neighbor groups, and over 100 years of christian missionaries is simply not credible. No anthropologist uses the word “race,” that concept died 50 years ago. The idea that the creation myth is not common, in great detail, to many other cultures is simply wrong. The anthropological literature is full of these stories.
So, he’s never been over seas or even further away from home (Jersey) than Alabama and Florida. It also appears that his work has been mostly National Historic Landmark type projects that are never more than a couple hundred years old. I’d be curious to hear about the oldest project he’s worked on – EVER – because it doesn’t appear that he’s qualified to even comment on Pygmies or their history.
I’m also curious to hear what possessed him to do a drive by hand waving dismissal here? He provided zero evidence for his claims. I guess we’re just suppose to trust him because he claims to be an anthropologist and archaeologist?
Actually this kind of supports the credibility of the Genesis account as based on remembered events. If the Pygmies are in fact the descendants of the first true humans, they would be the logical keepers of the origin story. Now all we need is the snake!
There’s supposed to be a large rock containing a cave somewhere in East Africa that is in the general shape of a giant snake. Some anthropologists think that, about 70,000 years BP, shamans would enter this cave and give oracles to the people from Baba-Lu (or whatever the equivalent East African name for the snake-god is).
Curiously, there’s also reported to be an East African tribe that has a traditional belief in “The Word” as an operant entity involved in the creation of the world and all it’s furnishings and inhabitants, eerily pre-mirroring Christian (and some Gnostic) beliefs as expressed in the prologue of the Gospel attributed to John.
I think that many people jump to conclusions here and make assumptions for there is no need. People are storytellers, any anthropologist knows this for a fact. There are creative people who invent stories, and there are people who have the gift of telling these stories in a way that people love. The same is true for fictionwriters and musicians.
People also have “a need to know”. We want answers and we are all wandering in the dark to find the light, and in the meantime we tell eachother stories about that light, true or not.
One of the most astonishing things are dreams. They are the source of many stories and we still tell our dreams to other people. There might have been a time that people believed dreams really happened.
And dreams can be connected to hallucinations – I am sure any people in the past encountered plants that did this to them. They had no reason to believe that it wasn’t true.
People have been around for a long time, and travelled most of this globe, telling and making up stories, trying to explain what we found and why people are different from animals. Dreams and hallucinations might have given them “answers to questions”. Think of the Pythia in Delphi.
Writing is a very recent invention and most of the stories must have travelled very far, even without people themselves travelling. The pygmee story might well have travelled all the way to India, without the people themselves moving away.
Or stories from India might have travelled all the way to Africa. In fact: the source of many stories will never be found, because the stories were adopted AND adapted. And when the were written down, they might have been around for thousands of years already.
Gaon
Acharya S. makes a good point here (or maybe I should say JP Hallet), but even the Pygmees could have adapted and retell their own stories with what they learned. The Egyptian stories might have been well known African stories long before the Egyptians entered the Nile delta. The isolation of the Pygmee people might be recent. Perhaps they were not so isolated 50.000 years ago.
There is no need for an esoteric tradition at the base of any story. The kaballah is a recent developement. What we can make up of the ancient hebrew language is that Hebrews were concrete thinkers and the Greek influence of societies (both in Egypt and in the Middle East) had influenced thinking to the point that the Torah was seen in a different light (not concrete) and people started looking for occult meaning.
There is no way of knowing if there WAS occult meaning or not. Kaballah is a way of explaining what COULD be behind a story, but it could all be make believe. I used to think that the Kaballah was the way to find the real meaning of the Torah, but I had to let that go. I certainly was never shocked, but that is probably because I have never been religious in the first place.
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As for people who are brainwashed to the point that they believe a story just because that was told to them, I don’t think they should make comments on this site. They are not Free Thinkers.
The remark about the cross, also seems a bit strange to me, because a cross is one of the oldest marks. It is very simple and baby’s already make crosses in their first attempt to draw. The ankh is also a cross and it has been around for a long time.
And what about the swastika – do people really think Hitler invented that? The swastika can be seen all over south-east Asia and even in China it is an important hieroglyph. Hitler adopted it, but it is not his. Neither is the cross a christian hieroglyph. It is as old as people.
You would actually need to read the book in order to see that the Pygmies are not necessarily primitive. In technology, yes – and they claim that was deliberate, as they didn’t want to destroy their natural world.
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Of mind, however, the Pygmies are not primitive, according to Hallet’s research. In fact, the Pygmies have large brains and are not low-IQ savages who could not have understood or come up with complex spiritual concepts. Even the Neanderthals are believed to have developed spiritual ideation.
Moreover, the Egyptians evidently stated that their culture originated with the Pygmies, and they had a Pygmy god, as shown here, considering him at times to be higher than their other gods.
There is no reason to conclude that the Pygmies could not and did not possess these stories on their own, having developed them for centuries if not millennia amongst themselves as their culture continued to thrive during those thousands of years. On the contrary, what Hallet asserts makes perfect sense in many ways.
Even so, since the Egyptians most certainly did possess numerous “biblical” tales, long before the Judeo-Christian creation, the point remains that the Bible is not an original divine revelation and that its major players are very ancient myths redressed.
Pygmies are found in almost all forests in the lake region though in areas like like kenya , uganda tanzania rwanda and burundi their numbers are realy dwindled. They still exsist in large numbers in kongo ituri thanks due to its remoteness and thick vegetation.
Pygimies are bantus cos they speak a bantu dialect any bantu can understand any pygmy dialect. pygmy dialects are connected to the other non pygmy bantu tribes for example the Batwa in uganda and rwanda speak a dialect similer to the lake region bantu tribes and this is true with other groups in Cameroun, kongo,gabon central africa etc. All bantus trace their origins from pygmies.
Some PhD scholars have opined that the Garden of Eden story of the Bible is a later Hebrew recast of earlier Mesopotamian myths about how and why man came to be created. He is created to be a slave, he will care for the gods’ city-gardens in the Edin, the plain between the Tigris and Eupharets rivers in Mesopotamia.
He will fed the gods their garden’s produce, ending their toil for food in their gardens of Edin. The gods at first denied man their slave knowledge of good and evil and caused him to not know it was wrong to be naked. They also denied him immortality.
The myths also explain why man is a sinner and rebel to his gods. Further details are available in my two books (2010) available at Amazon, (1) Eden’s Serpent, Its Mesopotamian Origins, (2) The Garden of Eden Myth, Its Pre-biblical Origin in Mesopotamian Myths. My website, [www.bibleorigins.net] provides more details.
https://freethoughtnation.com/garden-of-eden-originally-a-pygmy-myth/
It's a well-established practice, and tarot readers check out the card on the bottom or back of their deck for various reasons. ... For others, the card on the bottom of the deck provides a 'secret message', an additional and invaluable piece of advice, often something that is hidden.
I recently started doing something different in my tarot practice. I’ve been drawing daily cards for most of this year (usually but not strictly in the morning) and lately, I’ve been adding a second card into the mix. Not simply the next card in the pile, or even a shuffle-again-draw-again card, but instead, turning my deck over to check out the card on the bottom of the pile.
It’s a well-established practice, and tarot readers check out the card on the bottom or back of their deck for various reasons. Some call it the ‘shadow card’, others call it the ‘base’ or ‘foundation card’. For some, it’s a way to begin a tarot reading, setting the tone or establishing the focus of the reading.
For others, the card on the bottom of the deck provides a ’secret message’, an additional and invaluable piece of advice, often something that is hidden.
Bridget at Biddy Tarot explains that “the bottom card alludes to the hidden aspects that are influencing the situation at hand and gives deep insight into the subconscious mind of the client.” Another idea is to use the bottom card to round off the reading with a final word.
I read it differently. When a friend and I were first learning tarot, we’d lay out the Celtic Cross spread, then peek at the card on the bottom of the remaining deck, saying “it’s not about this…”.
I forget whether this was a practice my friend made up, something from a book, or picked up elsewhere, but it’s stuck, and lately, I’ve been bringing it into my daily draw.
I’m finding that this ‘not about’ approach really helps me to dig deeper into those daily cards. It’s so tempting — especially as an experienced reader — to merely glance at the card, briefly summarising it with a known reading, a few keywords. But the card on the bottom of the deck nudges me to think more carefully and often challenges my preconceptions.
To demonstrate: This morning, I drew the Two of Swords. I sat there frowning for a few moments, taking in the incredibly defensive image of a woman, blindfolded, holding aloft two freshly-sharpened swords.
“Holding something back,” I quickly thought to myself. I’m used to seeing cards about withdrawal, having spent much of my winter alone. I have a nagging sense of overdue ‘shadow work’, the weight of a few unresolved issues that I’m repeatedly putting off.
I picked up my deck and turned it over: the King of Cups. What does this add to my reading? I see this King as someone who is emotionally aloof, in control of their feelings, someone who’s done a lot of work on themselves, and who processes their emotions with a lot of logic, within carefully-created structures.
I notice the subtle visual symmetries in the cards: both are night-time scenes, both characters seem withdrawn. The upward sweep of the King’s throne seems to reflect one of the first cards curving swords.
Maybe I need to stop overthinking this ‘shadow work’ of mine. This King, in negative, is making me think that it’s time to relax a little and to be at peace with my emotional blindfold. Thinking so much about ‘doing the work’ and endlessly trying to figure out ways of structuring and dealing with my unfinished business is probably not doing me any favours.
Knowing that this reading is ‘not about’ the King of Cups gives me a sense of relief — like the card removes a deadline, lifts the pressure I feel to deal with my shit and get everything sorted out.
Now I can come back to the Two of Swords with a feeling of trust. I can trust that change is happening behind the scenes, behind that blindfold, and that it’s safe to gradually lower those swords of logic and really allow myself to feel what I feel, with honesty, and without pressure to achieve any particular stage or goal.
I love how the ‘bottom card’ — whether read according to my ‘not about’ approach or using any of the ideas suggested above — prods me out of my comfort zone and challenges me to look at my daily cards in new ways.
So now I’m curious: does anyone else read ‘bottom cards’? If so, what’s your approach? How and when do you use these cards? Let us know in the comments!
https://www.autostraddle.com/fools-journey-reading-the-bottom-card-of-a-deck-370285/
Ever done a Tarot reading for someone and felt that there was something ‘more' to the situation that has not yet fully revealed itself?
I sometimes get that quirky feeling that either the client is not letting on something about their situation or that perhaps there is something seemingly unrelated to the original question yet vital to the solution.
So what do you do? How do you act on that hunch? A technique I use quite often in my professional online Tarot readings is to look at the Tarot card that is on the bottom of the deck to draw additional insight for the client.
Why? The bottom card alludes to the hidden aspects that are influencing the situation at hand and gives deep insight into the subconscious mind of the client.
The technique itself is simple—once you have laid out the Tarot cards for your reading, look at the bottom card in the remaining deck and take note of this card. You may find that you want to return to this card throughout the reading, or at the end of the reading as a summary card.
Let’s say you have just performed a relationship Tarot reading and the general message is that this relationship is on the rocks. You turn to the bottom of the Tarot deck and find… the Ten of Swords.
What you now know is that this relationship is unlikely to survive in the long-term and a painful ending is imminent. Of course, make sure that this message is consistent with what you have read in the main Tarot spread.
The bottom card may also allude to an issue that is on the client’s mind, but which is not related to the initial question.
So, in the example above, the Ten of Swords may actually point to a painful ending which has occurred in the client’s life outside of the relationship in question, such as a betrayal with a work colleague or even the death of a family member. It may be that the emotional pain associated with this ending is now overflowing into the client’s relationship in question. You can then empower your client by advising they address this issue at the same time as their relationship issue.
https://www.biddytarot.com/getting-to-the-bottom-of-your-tarot-reading/
With its expressive face, collar of feathers, and black and grey tones, there’s no denying that the Harpy Eagle is a striking creature. But if its distinct appearance isn’t impressive enough, its height and wingspan certainly are.
These powerful birds of prey can reach up to 3 feet 5 inches in height, with an overall wingspan of up to 7 feet 4 inches—making them look almost like a puppet out of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth.
Its incredible size and unique appearance has made the Harpy Eagle quite a popular figure on the internet. Photographs of the large eagle often pop up on Reddit, where people marvel at its size.
For a quick comparison, a female bald eagle averages up to 12 pounds, while the female Harpy Eagle weighs between 13 and 20 pounds. As female eagles are always stockier than their male counterparts, it’s worth noting that a male Harpy Eagle will weigh between 9 to 13 pounds.
Despite its overall large size, its wingspan is actually a bit shorter than some other eagles—this is due to habitat. These rare birds live in the upper canopy of tropical lowland rainforests from Mexico to Brazil and northern Argentina.
The shorter wings help them navigate better through the forest, as opposed to other eagle species that mainly fly in large, open areas. Still, the Harpy Eagle remains the largest extant eagle in the world.
In terms of appearance, its black, grey, and white feathers are identical in both males and females, with the raised feathers on its head giving the bird a quizzical expression. If the Harpy Eagle’s goth look wasn’t fearsome enough, take note of its powerful talons.
The rear talons are actually bigger than the claws of a Grizzly Bear and measure 5 inches in length. In fact, no other eagle has talons so large. With such power, it should come as no surprise that the Harpy Eagle is at the top of its food chain.
So what do Harpy Eagle’s eat? Sloths and monkeys are favorites for this raptor. They rarely soar long distances. By preserving their energy, they have more than enough strength to pick up small animals weighing up to 17 pounds.
Silent hunters—they don’t vocalize much—these eagles will sit for hours on end in a perch, just waiting for a meal to walk by. Capable of flying up to 50 miles per hour, it’s no problem for them to then swoop down and snatch their food.
Sadly, Harpy Eagles are becoming a rare site across Latin America as rainforest deforestation diminishes their habitat. As Harpy Eagles are monogamous and raise just one eaglet every two years, even a slight downturn in numbers can make population recovery difficult.
The loss of this apex predator in some environments is a huge blow to the ecosystem. For instance, their hunting of animals like capuchin monkeys helps keep the populations in check naturally. This is important because these monkeys eat eggs from bird nests and, if not kept under control, could cause the extinction of other species.
The Harpy Eagle is the world’s largest extant eagle and has talons bigger than a Grizzly bear’s claw. They are native to the upper canopy of lowland rainforests but are losing habitat through deforestation.
https://mymodernmet.com/harpy-eagle/
A rare colour photo of dinner aboard the Pan American Boeing B-314 - Envision a pilot in the cockpit making his welcome-aboard announcement to the passengers saying, “The flight time today is five hours in first class and 12-½ hours in coach.”
Of course, there are no differences in flight times between business and first class, but passengers who sit "up front" often remark that their flight felt faster, thanks to the added comfort.
Even flight attendants prefer to travel first class. Wendy Sue Knecht, a former Pan Am flight attendant who wrote a memoir about her experiences, said she has “always preferred to work up front... More time to schmooze and I loved surrounding myself with elegance.”
Although the differences between first class and business class are not as significant as those between economy and first or business, there are still some variables to consider when making your travel choice. In general, first class costs about twice as much as business class. But that can vary significantly by route and airline.
Ben Schlappig, a consultant and travel blogger who flies an average of 400,000 miles a year, said he almost exclusively sits in first and business class and has noticed the business class section improving dramatically.
“Overall we’re seeing more airlines eliminating first class and instead installing great business-class service, given that the market for first class is pretty limited," Schlappig said.
"Nowadays business-class seats are better than first-class seats used to be. Meanwhile some of the first class seats we see nowadays have out-of-this-world products like double beds, showers or even apartments in the sky.”
The differences between business class and first class are not as great as the differences between economy class and first class, but there are still, however, notable differences worth considering when buying a ticket.
In Asia and a handful of other countries, first-class lounges are on a different level, but in most airports, your wait in either a business or first-class lounge will be fairly similar.
With some airlines, first-class passengers might have a seat that turns into a bed or even their own private apartment, whereas business class might offer more leg room, but no private space.
The food and drink in business class are typically at a restaurant level but in first class, the dining might be at the level of a Michelin-star restaurant, with an award-winning chef setting the menu.
You might expect that some of the perks of business- or first-class travel would kick in on the ground—in the pre-boarding lounge. For the most part, you’d be mistaken. The lounges, both in first class and business, vary from country to country.
“The best lounges are in Asia, followed by Europe and Australia," Schalppig said. "Some first-class lounges in the U.S. are getting better, especially the ones operated by foreign airlines. For example, there’s a fantastic Qantas first-class lounge at LAX.”
Lufthansa in Frankfurt offers an exclusive lounge for first-class passengers, who can skip the main terminal for their own terminal. Those passengers are then driven to their plane in a Porsche or Mercedes. In contrast, business-class lounges simply provide a quiet space to work and relax, with fast Wi-Fi, comfortable chairs and snacks, but no other extras.
The major differences between first class and business class are the seats and the service, but differences vary among airlines, routes and airplane models.
Business- and first-class services offer a range of improvements and luxuries to help you get a good night's sleep and privacy. The best source of information on the configurations for any flight you are considering is seatguru.com.
To decide between business and first class, consider the following before you buy your ticket: Will your seat turn into a bed? What’s the configuration of the cabin? How close will you be to other passengers? Will you have a double bed, your own “apartment," or a seat and a bed combined?
Airline pilot and Ask the Pilot blogger Patrick Smith said many carriers outfit their planes according to market demand. “
An airline may have three or four different configurations in its 777 or A330 fleets, with specific planes dedicated to specific markets,” he said. “Take Emirates as an example. First class on Emirates doesn't differ much from plane to plane. Business class does.”
First-class amenities generally supersede business class amenities on international flights, rather than domestic ones, but research first to make sure that's the case.
This is one of the two categories where business class and first class differ the most. “Business-class food is restaurant quality, but dining in business class is rarely an experience,” Schlappig said.
In the first class, customers often have food prepared under the auspices of a famous chef. For example, Air France – rated No.1 for in-flight food by the Robb Report – offers menus designed by Michelin-starred chefs.
When it comes to a before-dinner drink, Singapore Airlines, according to the UK-based Telegraph website, is “the only airline to offer both Krug Grande Cuvée and Dom Perignon 2004 – with caviar. And that’s before takeoff.” Business class on Emirates, Korean Air, Qatar Airways and Virgin Atlantic have onboard bars where you can chat with your fellow passengers.
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https://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/040416/top-5-differences-between-business-and-first-class.asp
The soda-can tab is more than meets the eye. In its resting state, the tab is what engineers call a "second-class" lever: The force you apply only moves one way, like a wheelbarrow.
When you lift the handles, the majority of the force falls on the wheel, in this case otherwise known as the fulcrum. This makes the load in the middle easier to move.
As Bill Hammack, YouTube's EngineerGuy and an engineer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explains in a recent video, pulling a soda-can tab exerts force on the rivet, which in this case is the load you want to move.
This lets you vent the pressurized can. But something remarkable happens the moment you vent the can: The tab becomes a first-class lever, in which the force you apply changes direction around the fulcrum, like a seesaw.
"Part of the reason this clever design works," Hammack explains in the video, "is because the pressure inside the can helps to force the rivet up, which in turn depresses the outer edge of the top, until it vents the can and then the tab changes to a seesaw lever."
In other words, the wheelbarrow lever lets you exert great force with relatively little effort. In this case, it lets you create a vent from the rivet. The crack you hear is the pressure quickly equalizing. From there a simple seesaw lever breaks the seal itself.
Looking at the process from inside, you can see more clearly when the can vents. This part is integral to the process, Hammack says, because if you tried to open the can just by pressing down on the seal without venting the can first, you'd need to make the tab enormous to fight back against the pressure inside the can. That would make it extremely expensive, not to mention oddly shaped and inefficient.
The actual design just goes to show that machines don't have to be complicated to be clever. Which is good news, considering that the tabs of yesteryear were as dumb as they were impractical.
Older soda and beer drinkers will remember the pull-away tabs that you'd either throw on the ground or drop into the can itself, hoping it wouldn't cut your lip when you went to take a sip. Thankfully, the tab got a full redesign in the 1980s.
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-genius-design-of-soda-can-tabs-2015-10
The 5 Most Sacred Languages In The World - You may have heard of sacred texts and places. But have you ever heard of the term 'sacred language'? You must not have unless you are a religious scholar. Languages are also holy by virtue of their use. None of the human beings can presume to dictate the language of the Gods.
However, some languages are considered scared because religious texts are written in these scripts. For example, Latin is the holy language of the Catholic Church because all the customs of the church are carried out in this language. Similarly, when Hindu's chant mantras, it is usually in Sanskrit. That is why, Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism.
Hebrew - Hebrew is the only sacred language in the world that is still 'living'. A language is living or dead based on how many people use it as their mother tongue. Hebrew had been a dead language since the time of Christ's death. But when the state of Israel was carved out in 1947, the new country adopted Hebrew as the national language. 40 million Jews learned to speak and write in a language that had been dead for centuries.
Sanskrit - Sanskrit is also a dead language for all practical purposes because nobody uses it as a means of communication any more. However all Hindu rites, pujas and rituals are completed only with the chanting of Sanskrit shlokas and hymns.
All the Vedas and Holy Books were initially written in Sanskrit. It is also called the Mother of all Languages since it is believed to be the oldest Language.
Greek - Greek is a language in which the new testament of the Bible was written. It is also the language in which all the first Christian religious texts, including the gospels were written.
Greek is still used as the main language of the Church in the Greek Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest holy languages in the world although it not used in the exact form any more.
Latin - Just like Greek is the language of the Bible, Latin is the language in Church. The Roman Catholic Church was based in Italy and Latin, the language of the Italians, thus had monopoly over Church proceedings. Some of the major religious texts in the later part of Christianity have been written in this language.
Classical Arabic - Islam uses classical or old Arabic as its language of instruction. The Koran is written in this old form of Arabic and so are a number of other religious scriptures in Islam. Different dialects of Arabic are still spoken in the Gulf countries, but they are slightly different from the Koranic Arabic.
These are the 5 most sacred languages in the world. There are other languages such as Pali, Tamil and Syrian that are holy in certain parts of the world.
https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/the-5-most-sacred-languages-in-the-world
Consider that the average force exerted by a hammer striking a nail is about 100 pounds. ... So the pressure the nail tip exerts on the wood is 100 pounds divided by 1/100 square inch for an amazing 10,000 pounds per square inch!
An adult bald eagle's talons are 2 inches long and are capable of exerting a force of 1,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.
Scientists have tried to measure the gripping strength of eagles. A Bald Eagle's grip is believed to be about 10 times stronger than the grip of an adult human hand and can exert upwards of 400 psi or pounds per square inch.
The Gobi Desert lies in the territory of the People's Republic of China and Mongolia. The Gobi Desert (/'go?bi/) is a large desert or brushland region in Asia. It covers parts of Northern and Northeastern China and of Southern Mongolia.
The songs of the Christmas season comprise some of the finest music known to man, and this hymn is certainly one of our universal favorites. It was used in Catholic churches before it became known to Protestants.
Today it is sung by church groups around the world since it has been translated from its original Latin into more than one hundred other languages. The vivid imagery of the carol seems to have meaning and appeal for all ages in every culture.
The original Latin text consisted of four stanzas. The first calls us to visualize anew the infant Jesus in Bethlehem's stable. The second stanza is usually omitted in most hymnals, but it reminds us that the Christ child is very God Himself:
God of God and Light of Light begotten, Lo, He abhors not the Virgin's womb; Very God, begotten, not created-O come, let us adore Him.
The next stanza pictures for us the exalted song of the angelic choir heard by the lowly shepherds. Then the final verse offers praise and adoration to the Word, our Lord, who was with the Father from the beginning of time.
For many years this hymn was known as an anonymous Latin hymn. Recent research, however, has revealed manuscripts that indicate that it was written in 1744 by an English layman named John Wade and set to music by him in much the same style as used today.
The hymn first appeared in his collection, Cantus Diversi, published in England in 1751. One hundred years later the carol was translated into its present English form by an Anglican minister, Frederick Oakeley, who desired to use it for his congregation.
The tune name, "Adeste Fideles," is taken from the first words of the original Latin text, and translated literally means "be present or near, ye faithful."
O come, all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant; come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; come and behold Him, born the King of angels:
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation; sing all ye bright hosts of heav'n above; glory to God, all glory in the highest:
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv'n; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
Chorus: O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.
https://www1.cbn.com/devotions/o-come-all-ye-faithful
I would like to know how long does cichlid fish live, is there a difference in life span between species, is there a difference between tangs and malawis.
I must admit that my 2 oldest fish species in my care are both Tang and Malawian. I have 10 year old Julidochromis marlieri, and 10 year old Cyrtocara moorii. :) Chatham-Kent Aquarium Society
If memory serves me corrrectly, Guy Jordan, one of the founding fathers of the American Cichlid Association once told me that he had a Parachromis dovii named Pablo that lived over 15 years.
On the other end of the spectrum, having worked with Bathybates and Trematocara species, I get the impression that they are relatively short-lived as cichlids go. They grew fast, spawned at a seemingly young age, and began to show signs of aging quicker than other cichlids I've kept. Perhaps 4 to 6 years for them?
Isn't Tropheus supposed to be very long-lived, exceeding 10 or even 15 years? Another canditate for a Tanganyika cichlid with a long life-span would be Cyphotilapia frontosa.
In contrast many of the lek-breeding ectodines are rather short-lived, probably because it takes a lot of energy to constantly display for females and improve and defend their nests.
There's a mod on another site who has a Syno Multi that he has had for 23yrs and its still swimming all over the place.
I had a Syno. multipunctatus that I inherited from someone who had him for 10+ yrs and kept him for at least another 6...I gave him to a friend when I left for college, so who knows...
This is a picture of a friends T. duboisi that's 10+ years old. I took this picture about a year ago, and I think it's still alive. A breeder I know on a personal base had a huge Burundi frontosa by the name of Bob. Bob made it well beyond 25 years and if I remember it right even reached 30 years.....he passed away less than a year ago.
Another place that might ring a bell is Verduijns' place. the importer, yup. they used to have a granulosus that arrived as the first fish that went into their 10.000L showtank and it passed away lasdt year. it's been in the store as long as it exists! that would make it well beyond 30 years, probably 35 years old and granulosus are caught as subadults.
Myself I've bought a group of Mochokiella paynee in 1986. this is a tiny relative of Synodontis from Sieraa Leone. and I bought them as subadult/half grown abnimals, at least 2 years old, given the growthrate of this species.
The last one's still kicking the bucket in a tank of a good friend......that tiny 2" fish is at least 24 years old and this is a fish that has a maximumsize of 7 cm or so. some Synodontis nigriventris that I bought in 1984 at an age of 2-3 years (they grow as slow as petricola's) have been around until 2007, wich makes them reach some 26 years give or take a bit.
I've seen old substrate brooders, esp the larger ones from South and Central America, and frontosa's owned by people who claim their fish was 20-25 years old or more.
Some fish do last, even small ones! on the other hand, I've known plenty fish (catfishes too) that are really ancient and worn out at 5 or 6 years. some don't even last that long despite good care.
https://cichlidae.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3977
It might have to be if you lived on Christmas Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, near Australia. No, you do not need to change the color on your screen – that tree trunk is covered in red… red crabs that is!
That’s right, it is estimated over 120 million crabs live on Christmas Island. In December the millions of crabs come out of hiding and they make their way toward the ocean for their annual migration.
Not all crabs live near the ocean, which means millions have to travel through the town to get there. They cross roads, lawns, driveways, the jungle, down cliffs, and even cut through houses to get to the water!
I’m not so sure I would ever get used to red crabs walking through my house every December, let alone millions of them! After the crabs mate the females lay about 100,000 eggs… EACH!
A month later the eggs hatch in the ocean and the millions of baby crabs make the same journey their parents made and head back through town. Considering the babies have never been home, it’s pretty amazing they know where to go.
If you had millions of crabs take over your streets and lawn, would you mind? I think I might, but the residents of Christmas Island do not want to see them go.
They feel privileged to witness and assist these crabs each year! So, whether or not you want to live there, it sounds like an interesting place to visit. But if you go, don’t forget to pack your boots!
https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/christmas-island-red-crab/
Goldfish are opportunistic feeders: If they can eat it, they will try. ... Because their fins aren't exactly equipped to pick off these tasty morsels, goldfish will pick up a pebble, scrape off as much algae from the gravel as they can, then spit the gravel piece back out.Sep 26, 2017
You’ve probably heard that there’s not many fish that can live alongside a Betta Fish. After all Betta Fish are highly territorial and can be aggressive towards other fish. Right? As long as you avoid certain triggers. Betta Fish can happily live with other fish.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Tank Mate - A tank mate is simply an aquarium species that shares a tank with another. When choosing a compatible species or tank mate, below are some things to consider:
Water Quality - First and foremost you need to consider compatibility. Both species need to be capable of living within the same environment in order to survive together.
Consider things like pH levels and temperature. Is it too acidic for either of them to live in. Is it too hot or too cold for both of them to be comfortable.
It is very hard to have multi-temperatures and layered pH levels within the same tank while also providing enough room for the fish to swim around.
For this reason look for compatible ranges. If they do not have the same ranges from lowest to highest. Look for overlapping ranges that can be maintained.
When you have one specie’s highest or lowest range falling withing the ranges of the other specie’s. They could be considered compatible.
Environmental Terrain - Betta Fish like dense plant growth and places to hide. If the other species you are considering like wide open spaces then trying to have both species in the same 20 gallon tank could leave one or the other feeling stressed if its requirements are not met.
Tank Size and Shape - If you have your heart set on another species that doesn’t like heavily planted tanks. Then you’ll need to consider the shape of the tank. This also applies to the number of fish you are looking to have. With an important thing that must be considered.
The size of your tank. Betta Fish need at lease 5-7 gallons of personal water space for themselves. A long narrow 20 gallon tank could allow for an open space species to cohabit the tank. One end of the tank can be heavily planted with the plants thinning out towards the middle and then none at the other end from the midway point.
You would need to add the volume of water that each species needs for the overall size of your tank. If you are looking at a 10 gallon fish, you would need a 20 gallon tank. A 15 gallon fish would make it 25+ and so on.
Dietary Requirements - Betta Fish like to eat pellets, blood worms, brine shrimp and mosquito larvae. Picking another species that likes to eat the same food can help to eliminate the risk of rotting food waste.
Live food can also be a more worth while treat to give them now. As there can be a reduced risk of your Betta over eating when sharing live food.
Incompatible Species - Just being environmentally compatible isn’t enough to take into consideration when picking a tank mate for your Betta Fish.
Habitation Zone - You’ll also need to consider the areas of the tank that each species will inhabiting. Betta Fish like to swim in the upper level of the tank. So near the surface.
Having other surface zone species, could become intrusive for your Betta. This would stress your Betta out as it could feel like its territory is being invaded. Avoid introducing top level swimmers as your Betta could be attacked or even attack and kill the other fish. No Nibblers - Your Betta Fish may have beautiful large flowing fins.
If you introduced a species that’s notorious for being nibblers -they like to bite and tear other fish’s fins. Not only could your Betta’s fins get damaged, they would also most likely kill the other fish that’s attacking them.
Colors and Shape - Brightly colored species with large fins can be mistaken for another male Betta. It is best to avoid species with a combination of these features. As well as most species that have overly large fins.
These features can make your Betta feel intimidated. They are more then likely to attack another fish that they might feel is another male challenger.
Male Betta Fish -Do not under any circumstances place two males in the same tank. They are not called Siamese and Japanese Fighting fish for nothing. They were bred for fighting and will injure one another.
Female Betta Fish - Multiple females can be kept in the same tank. This is know as a Sorority. They usually consist of 5 or more females. Keep their numbers odd however. There can be more chance of tension with even numbers.
Provide lots of hiding places for the weaker females to hide in. Their tank needs to be no smaller then 10 gallons. There will be an alpha female. Her position could be challenged by other females and fights may constantly break out.
www.facebook.com/ash.noka.77
A sorority that has a stable hierarchy can coexist with one another in relative peace. Introducing an older female that is use to living in seclusion. Into a sorority is inadvisable. Females can be just as territorial as males and she would not take kindly to having other females invade her personal space.
Watch for signs of trouble, damaged fins and/or scales, missing fish, and signs of stress. If females go missing they could have been killed during a fight over dominance or the alpha female could be highly territorial and is killing the weaker females. Separate your females if this occurs.
Breeding Pairs - Unless you are trying to breed your Betta Fish. Do not keep a female and a male Betta in the same tank. They will fight if they are not ready for breeding. If you are preparing them to mate.
Keep their tank divided and separated from one another until the conditions are met. Compatible Species (Tank Mates). The following species are examples of what can be introduced to your Bettas tank.
There is no guarantee of how well any fish will get along. Fish just like people, are individuals and have their own personalities. Your Betta could be more passive and more tolerable then someone else’s.
This could mean that it might be happy living with more fish. Or it could be more territorial and aggressive. They might attack any fish they sees. Slowly introduce your Betta to new fish and keep an eye on them.
Watch for signs of stress or injury and observe their interactions with their new housemates. If they are not coping. Either remove the Betta Fish to a safer tank or remove the new fish instead.
Your Betta does not need the companionship of other fish. The inclusion of a compatible species is for your own benefit. You can not force your fish to like one another.
Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon Innesi) - neon-tetra-paracheirodon-innesi - Neon silver-blue bodies and a red neon stripe. This stripe can fade or even completely disappear as a result of prolonged periods of darkness.
They require at least 10 gallons of swimming space. They are a schooling fish and like to be in schools of 6-12 fish. Though brightly colored. This species is tolerated by most Betta Fish due to their smaller fins.
They like to swim long the middle habitation zone, well below the Betta Fish, and require a longer tank for them to swim up and down. Like the Betta Fish they too like to have a heavily planted tank.
Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus Rhodostomus). Rummy-Nose-Tetra-Hemigrammus-Rhodostomus. With a bright red head, silver body, and a black and white striped tail. This species is much like its cousin species, the Neon Tetra.
This species of Tetra also like to have 10 gallons of swimming water and a long tank to swim up and down. It can be schooled with 4-12 fish and will also prefer the middle habitat zone. It is a very peaceful fish and will happy coexist with most other fish.
Ember Tetras (Hyphessobrycon Amandae) - Both the males and females have an orange-red color. They can also be translucent in appearance. These tetras can join a school of neon tetras adding to their numbers. They are more happy in heavily planted tanks and will dart in and out of the plants.
Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma Heteromorpha). These little beauties have a distinct black triangle over and orange-pink body, with red hued fins, a very peaceful and active fish that likes to swim in the middle habitat zone.
Though they like to be in schools of 5-7 fish, they are a shoaling fish. This means that they will break away from the group and do their own thing. Mainly grouping up when traveling to a new location. You need to be careful when it comes to most tetras. Most species can be fin nippers or could invade the Betta’s personal space.
Feeder Guppies (Poecilia Reticulata). Females are a gray tone. With the males having brighter hues and spots on their body. This species of guppie is usually bred to feed larger fish. Unlike their cousins, this species doesn’t have bright colors and large fins and are not fin nibblers.
This means that Betta Fish can be happy to live with them. This can’t be said however for other guppie species. If you are looking to use have this hardy and relatively docile species coexist with your Betta. Make sure that you are getting the correct species.
Bristlenose Plecos (Ancistrus Cirrhosis). A tough skinned species of catfish that has dark grayish skin with white spots. This species of catfish is a very shy and reclusive bottom feeder that’s inactive during the day. They feed on algae and will help to clean the tank.
As they are bottom feeders the live in the lower habitat zone and will not likely draw the attention of your Betta. If your Betta does get curious and takes a bite. Their skin is so tough that it wouldn’t cause them any harm. They can also grow to as big as 4″ long, far too big for your Betta to be able to kill if it wanted to pick a fight.
Cory Catfish (Corydoras). One of the easiest fish to care for. They like to live in schools of 4 or more and are very active and non-aggressive fish. They will clean up after your Betta feeding on algae and and food scraps that may have been missed by your Betta. Make sure when you are buying at cat fish that you are not buying the common catfish. as it can grow quite large.
Pygmy Corydoras. A dull gray in color, they blend in well against sand and gravel substrate. Being the smallest of this species, their diminutive size of 1″.
Can make it so that your Betta may not even know that they are even there to begin with. They like to live in schools of 6-12 fish and will happily clean up the tank. By eating the algae and food scraps left behind by your Betta.
Kuhli Loach (Pangio Kuhlii). These eel like fish have a yellow bodies with dark patching. They like to burrow deep into the sand substrate and hide in tiny crevices. When with others of their species they will play and pile on top of each other.
Though they like to be with up to six others of their species. They are happy to be on their own. If left alone they have a docile temperament and would stick to themselves, ignoring other fish around them.
If you wish to include a Loach. Make sure that you are getting this variation of Loach as other variation of this species can grow as long as one foot.
Snails - We could finish this list of with another fish. Instead we are going to include and environmental element that can effect your choice of other companion fish. Snails can be added to a smaller 5-10 gallon tank.
They don’t require additional swimming water and will not impact on your Betta Fish’s personal space. Snails are bottom feeder.
They are the garbage cleaners of the aquarium world and will eat everything from waste, to algae and left over food. Betta Fish may even eat the baby snails providing an additional food source.
The biggest draw back to snails, is that they are prolific breeders. If left unchecked they can quickly take over a tank. The could eat more then there is being produced, limiting what is available for catfish to eat.
You can combat this with several options: Consider the Kuhli Loach mentioned earlier. They will hunt down and consume the snails. If you have a snail infestation, place a few of these fish in your tank and they will eradicate the snail problem, then you can just feed them pellets.
Or allow your snail population to grow and introduce just the one to keep the population in check. Snails can help to keep your tank clean, adding to a healthier environment. If you can keep their population in check they just might help you to decide on a suitable tank mate for your little Betta friend.
I just purchased five floating Betta food clips – which I saw on Big Al’s site – one each for my five male Bettas. What should I clip to the ends?
The “fish expert” at the general pet store said they like “beef heart” and the blood worms – but he may have been very busy that day and been thinking of his other fish that are carnivorous.
Blood worms (I have the dried ones) – are too small for the clips. I do not want to “live feed” – and if they could eat a little bit of “beef heart” or “shrimp” from the grocery store – that seems easier to obtain and fit in a clip – and retrieve the uneaten so the tank doesn’t get messy.
I have 6 female bettas with one male in a 125 gallon; would like for them to breed but I don’t think that is happening because of the other fish in the tank. Moral of the story, I have not had any issues keeping females with a male and NOT during time of mating.
https://nippyfish.net/2018/08/02/fish-that-can-live-with-bettas/
Some are calling it the latest symbolic battle between Canada and the United States – but it didn’t take place on the ice. An amateur photographer from Bowser, B.C. snapped a series of once-in-a-lifetime photos when she caught a bald eagle terrorizing a Canada goose.
Lisa Bell was vacationing with her family at Spider Lake Springs, near Qualicum Beach, over the weekend when she spotted an eagle swoop down and land right on top of the goose, pinning it to the ground.
“There was a whole bunch of noise to begin with,” she recalled. “The eagle was sitting on the goose. I scooted to get my camera, and when I came back down he was still there.
The goose basically was playing dead.” She started snapping photos of the unusual showdown hoping for a happy ending to the story. She got it. “The eagle went to adjust itself, and the goose’s back end came up,” she said.
“The eagle was having a hard time keeping the goose down, and he managed to break free.” The clever goose took off, with the eagle chasing behind, and launched itself into a nearby pond, diving under the water.
Bell said the eagle doubled back, swooped the goose once more unsuccessfully, and then flew off to a nearby tree. “It’s nature, it’s spectacular actually,” she said.
“You’re rooting for the goose and seeing what’s going to happen.” She said a second eagle arrived a few minutes too late, and perched in the tree with the attacker. “They stuck around for a good hour,” she said.
Bell posted the photos to Facebook, where they’ve already racked up 264 shares. Many were amazed at the clear, close-up photos of the fight, while at least one person questioned why the photographer didn’t step in to help the goose.
“That was nature taking its course and there’s not much I can do about it,” Bell said. “He was hungry. You look at it from the eagle’s point of view and they have babies to feed as well.”
Others who shared the photos noted the symbolic significance of a bald eagle, America’s symbol of freedom, doing battle with an iconic Canadian bird. Bell said the Goose swam around the pond for a while after it happened, and appeared to only suffer a few minor talon scratches in the scuffle.
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/bald-eagle-vs-canada-goose-scuffle-between-symbolic-birds-caught-on-camera-1.2933438
A cat leaning over the edge of a dock barely escaped with its life as a fish leaped out of the water and tried to snatch it for a quick meal. The cat was admiring, if not salivating over, a number of goldfish swimming just below the surface of the water.
The cat would move its paws towards the water in a feeble attempt to snag one of the fish for itself. It couldn’t even reach the surface. So far, so good. The episode was just another example of normal feline instincts because cats usually enjoy catching and consuming fish.
Then, Darwin pulled into reverse. While the cat was pawing away at potential meals, a predatory fish took note of the activity above the surface and jumped out of the water, snatching its jaws at the now helpless kitty.
Fear not, though, cat lovers (and who on the Internet doesn’t love cats?). The whole thing was caught on tape and slow motion video appears to show the cat, riddled with a bad case of karma and a shot to its self-esteem, scurrying away safely. It might have been injured by the ordeal, but it doesn’t appear to have been eaten.
https://www.business2community.com/social-buzz/watch-cat-barely-escape-getting-eaten-fish-01051524
A curious kitten got more than it bargained for when eyeing up a meal. In this remarkable video, a kitten is dragged into a pond by a fish at least twice its size after it got a little too close to its prey.
The footage, filmed in Japan, shows the kitten edging closer and closer to the pond's surface, transfixed by the koi carp passing underneath it. A second cat joins it, even climbing on its back in order to get a good look at the passing prey.
When a few attempts to paw at the creatures beneath it are unsuccessful, it edges even closer to the water - with its nose almost touching the surface. Suddenly a large fish - bigger than any of those the kitten had seen beneath it - lunges out of the water, grabbing it with its jaws and dragging it underwater.
Such is the speed at which it launches from the water, even the women filming what was previously a cute encounter scream in fright.
It's not known if the kitten survived the astonishing role reversal - but it's believed the huge fish that attacked it was a pike. Pike are aggressive fish, reported to have bitten even humans. They can grow more than 1metre in length and have extremely sharp, pointy teeth.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2811016/When-fish-strike-Astonishing-moment-fish-leaps-pond-snatch-curious-cat-jaws-drag-beneath-surface.html
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