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Spirituality

The Tree of Life: Animism and the Earth Spirit

In the Middle Ages, when everyone trusted in god, they also believed that nature was alive. The existence of “Mother Earth” proposed by Aristotle, as interpreted by St Thomas Aquinas, was taught in universities. Animals and plants were believed to have souls, the Latin word for soul being “anima”. The scientific revolution starting in the […]

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Moonspiration: Creativity, Colour and Once in a Blue Moon Free PDF

When there are two full moons in a month, the second full moon is known as a blue moon. There will be a rare blue moon on 31st July, 2015, following on from the full moon of 2nd July. A popular myth is that pregnant women are more likely to give birth during a full moon. […]

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The Power of Padlocks: Love, Memories and Digital Belonging

What is the strange cult of love that chains us to the railings of social conformity? Why do we follow the crowd regardless of the destruction we may be causing? Sentimental tokens of mutual love are universal, but not all are harmless. According to Wikipedia, a love lock is a padlock which is attached to a […]

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Dreamtime for Indigenous Australian Textile Designs

In anticipation of the British Museum’s forthcoming Indigenous Australia exhibition, we look at the rise of Aboriginal textile designs in fashion and interiors. Indigenous Australians’ oral tradition and spiritual values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime – a sacred era when ancestral totemic spirit beings created the world. […]

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Timeless Design: The Dream Catcher

The night air is filled with dreams. Good dreams are clear and know the way to the dreamer, descending through the feathers. The slightest movement of the feathers indicates the passage of yet another beautiful dream. Bad dreams, however, are confused and confusing. They cannot find their way through the web and are trapped there […]

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Downtime: Escape from the Web of Our Own Making

More passwords, social networking communities, extra CCTV cameras, software upgrades, downloads, uploads, new apps, friend requests, spam email, viral advertising. People are growing tired of the fast paced digital world and starting to drop out. Some are even resorting to ‘slow apps,’ which can block emails and social network feeds for certain periods of the […]

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Global Trend with Universal Symbolism: Hands in Fashion

Scientists have recently confirmed that a fist bump is more hygienic than a handshake. Hands aren’t just in the news, they are appearing everywhere – wrapped around dresses, printed on t-shirts, as brooches, chairs, clasps on bags, cufflinks, door handles, coat hooks and vases. We’ve spotted hands all over the world, on everything from hair bands […]

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