Harvard owns a book that’s bound in human skin. One of its curators announced today that tests on a book titled Des destinées de l’ame (Destinies of The Soul), which was published sometime in the 1880s, have confirmed with 99.9 percent confidence that it’s been bound in human skin. The book has been sitting in Harvard’s Houghton Library since the 1930s and has had a note inside it from the donor, who explains that he had the book bound in human skin. In French, translated by Harvard, he wrote:
“This book is bound in human skin parchment on which no ornament has been stamped to preserve its elegance. By looking carefully you easily distinguish the pores of the skin. A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering: I had kept this piece of human skin taken from the back of a woman. It is interesting to see the different aspects that change this skin according to the method of preparation to which it is subjected…”
Tomoe Gozen 巴御前- onna bugeisha
Tomoe Gozen was a female samurai during the Genpei War of 1180–1185 CE. Though female warriors were not uncommon in Japan at the time, Tomoe is one of very few female samurai, highly trained and skilled in horseback riding, archery, sword fighting and she was also greatly skilled in the use of the naginata, which is a long staff with a curved blade at one end. Tomoe Gozen beheaded many enemies with naginata, because she didn’t believe in staying behind in battles, she was always at the fore front of any battle line.
She was a senior captain under general Minamoto no Yoshinaka, and either his attendant or consort as well, depending on the source. Her surname is not known, as Gozen is simply a title, somewhat like “Lady.”The earliest written source regarding Tomoe Gozen is from the 14th century Japanese classic, The Tale of the Heike, which in turn is derived from oral tradition. This source describes her as almost supernaturally strong, very beautiful, and surpassing her male colleagues in skill and bravery.
The Heike Monogatari goes on to say that Tomoe was one of the last five of Yoshinaka’s warriors standing at the tail end of the Battle of Awazu, and that Yoshinaka, knowing that death was near, urged her to flee. Though reluctant, she rushed a Minamoto warrior named Onda no Hachirô Moroshige, cut his head off, and then fled for the eastern provinces.
Some have written that Tomoe in fact died in battle with her husband, while others assert that she survived and became a nun.
She is among the most popular and widely known female figures in Japanese history/legend, and appears as the lead in at least one kabuki play, Onna Shibaraku
“Nobody came to my tenth birthday party. I have a very vivid memory of helping my mother set the table, then watching through the window as the sun slowly set, before finally realizing that nobody was coming. That moment pretty much set the themes for the rest of my life.”
(Source: humansofnewyork)
Stunning photos of tears under a microscope vary by emotion
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“The project, called "The Topography of Tears,” captures unique moments in human experience, but there’s also a scientific reason why every tear looks so different. There are three different types of tears: basal (lubricating), reflex (responding to stimuli) and psychic (triggered by emotion). Each type of tear contains different organic substances, and the molecular makeup depends on the causative agent. For instance, emotional tears contain the neurotransmitter leucine enkephalin, a natural painkiller that the body releases to mitigate stress.“
(Source: micdotcom, via womaninterrupted)
Sokushinbutsu
The practice of self-mummification, once performed by Buddhist monks in Japan. The monk would start by eating only nuts and seeds to strip them of their body fat, then move to drinking tea made from the urushi tree. The poisonous tea would cause vomiting to further their weight loss, as well as help dissuade insects from disturbing their body after death.
The Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) is a member of the stork family, Ciconiidae. The Greater Adjutant Stork has adaptations that help them to be better scavengers. A bald head and neck, although it doesn’t make them look pretty, helps them to keep clean. The neck and head is the hardest part for a bird to reach when they preen, or clean, themselves. Having no feathers means there are less places for their scavenged food to get stuck.
Photo credit: Ben Fitzgerald
French designer Margaux Ruyant’s funeral urn entitled Poetree. Poetree is a funeral urn that evolves over time, allowing loved ones to plant a tree in the ashes, while also providing a simple, elegant monument.The Poetree is made out of a ceramic ring with the deceased’s details, plus a cork container and stopper. Relatives can place the deceased’s ashes in the urn and take it home, along with a boxwood tree sapling in a biodegradable pot. When they are ready, the cork stopper is removed, soil can be poured inside the urn, and the small tree may be planted in the ashes.After giving the boxwood tree some time to grow, the urn can then be planted outside, where the cork container can biodegrade, leaving only the ceramic ring as a marker and a living, growing tree to commemorate those who have passed on.
