Scientific Nous

A Masonic Initiation Well - Quinta da Regaleira, celebrates Portugal's unique historical connection to the mysterious Knights Templar : This 88ft deep well is located on the land of Quinta da Regaleira, near manicured gardens and hilltop villas of Sintra, Portugal, lies the fairytale estate of Quinta da Regaleira. Quinta da Regaleira is a postcard-perfect mix of Gothic, Egyptian, Moorish and Renaissance architecture. But it’s what lies beneath the palace’s gardens that truly sets the estate’s design apart. A pair of wells, called Initiation Wells, spiral down deep within the earth, like inverted towers. The wells were never used to collect water. Instead, in fact, was never built to serve as a water resource at all. It was actually built for secret ceremonial purposes, as a part of a mysterious initiation ritual within the Knights of Templar tradition. It has a spiral staircase of 27m to the bottom. Initiation Well looks like an inverted tower. It is either a journey into depths of Mother Earth or a rise up into light. Well represents death/rebirth allegory, typical within many mystical traditions. Journey through well is like a rebirth through Mother Earth’s womb. Quinta da Regaleira has had many owners over the decades, but it was António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, one of wealthiest man in Portugal at the turn of 20th Century, who made the estate what it is today. Carvalho Monteiro had a deep interest in, and was quite possibly an initiate of – Knights Templar, a Catholic military order with roots dating to early 12th Century CE. While the group is believed to have disbanded 700 years ago, certain groups, like Freemasons, revived the medieval group’s rituals and traditions centuries later. With architect and set designer Luigi Manini, Carvalho Monteiro created a property brimming with pagan and Christian symbolism between 1904-1910. The property’s wells, located in the expansive gardens that Manini also designed, served as the starting point in Templar candidate initiation ceremonies. It is believed that Templar initiations at Quinta da Regaleira began with candidates entering one of Initiation Wells blindfolded. Holding a sword close to their heart, they would descend nine flights of stairs – a number that represents the nine founders of the Templar order. Once reaching the bottom of the well, candidate would walk into a dark labyrinth where they would symbolically and literally find their way up towards the light. If they were able to make back through the well tower and into the sunlight, initiates would walk across stones in water to reach the chapel, where they would then be welcomed into the brotherhood. While Templar initiations no longer take place at Quinta da Regaleira, visitors are welcomed trace the footsteps of candidates past, experiencing this ode to Portugal’s hidden myths and history firsthand. Now, Initiation Well in Quinta da Regaleira Park, Sintra, Portugal, under UNESCO Protection. #archaeohistories

“We are a society of notoriously unhappy people: lonely, anxious, depressed, destructive, dependent — people who are glad when we have killed the time we are trying so hard to save.” —Erich Fromm

Jupiter seen from the James Webb Space Telescope

Happy #ValentinesDay from Hubble! 💘 To show our love, here's a new image of the globular cluster NGC 2298. These stars are attracted to each other... gravitationally, that is. Read more: go.nasa.gov/3uydKKD

“The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence.” — Aldous Huxley

Take a look through some classic #CosmicCollisions! Over the last three decades (and counting!), Hubble has provided valuable snapshots of galaxy mergers. These interactions occur when the gravity between galaxies draws them together: go.nasa.gov/4bdjABF

Geometry puzzle 📐

Brown dwarf W1935 posed a mystery. Webb found that methane in this object’s atmosphere was emitting infrared light, despite no obvious energy source. Using clues from our solar system, scientists found a possible explanation in aurorae: go.nasa.gov/3HddFPe #AAS243

The young star LL Ori gives off a strong solar wind – a stream of charged particles moving rapidly outward. But when that wind collides with gas evaporating from the Orion Nebula, it creates the crescent-shaped bow shock in this #HubbleClassic view: go.nasa.gov/48JEvu9

“The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.” - Leonardo da Vinci

#formulae and #learningability

“The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky

An aerial view of the 'Unfinished Obelisk' in the 3500-year-old granite quarry in Aswan, Egypt. The unfinished obelisk is nearly one-third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. This obelisk, which is 25m long today, if it had been finished by the ancient Egyptians, would be almost measured around 41.75m (137.0 ft) and would have weighed nearly 1,090 tonnes, a weight equal to about 200 African elephants. This obelisk was studied in detail by Reginald Engelbach in 1922. Its creation was ordered by Hatshepsut (1508–1458 BC). This piece that was left unfinished due to the appearance of some fissures in the upper part of the obelisk, is very important as it shows us how the ancient Egyptians cut and removed the obelisks. 📷 : Credit to the Owner #archaeohistories

“The unhappy person is never present to themselves because they always live in the past or the future.”