title: Gothika

text: Miranda begins to bond with fellow inmate Chloe Sava, whom she treated prior to her incarceration. During Miranda's previous sessions with Chloe, Chloe claimed to have been raped in the hospital. One night, Miranda's cell door inexplicably opens, and she quietly prowls through the ward. As she passes Chloe's cell, she witnesses Chloe being raped, and glimpses a tattoo of an Anima Sola on the perpetrator's chest. She is subsequently found by guards, who disbelieve her story. As time passes, Miranda regains memories of the night of the car accident, and subsequently identifies the mysterious woman as Rachel, the daughter of Miranda's superior, Dr. Phil Parsons; she had died in an apparent suicide several years prior. Late one night, Miranda is attacked by Rachel's ghost in her cell, and subsequently manages to escape from the hospital. She returns to her home and observes the blood-stained crime scene. This triggers vivid memories of Miranda committing Douglas's murder, though she believes that Rachel possessed her to carry out the act.


title: Gothika

text: Recalling that Douglas mentioned he was going to visit his rural farmhouse in Rhode Island prior to his murder, Miranda decides to visit the site, hoping it will contain clues. While investigating a cellar in the barn, she finds a blood-stained mattress, along with containers of sedatives, restraints, and video recording equipment. Miranda views one of the tapes: It is a snuff film shot by Douglas, which shows him raping, torturing, and murdering a young woman. Police subsequently arrive at the property, arresting Miranda and finding one of Douglas's victims, Tracey Seaver, still alive in the barn. Miranda realizes that Rachel possessed her to avenge her own murder by Douglas.


title: Gothika

text: Incarcerated in the county jail, Miranda converses with Sheriff Ryan about Douglas's crimes, and asserts that Rachel's suicide was staged; she also espouses her belief that a second perpetrator was involved. Using her expertise as a psychiatrist, Miranda constructs a psychological profile of the second perpetrator, and realizes it is in fact Sheriff Ryan. Ryan, realizing Miranda has identified him, attempts to inject her with a sedative. In the struggle, Miranda tears at his shirt, revealing the Anima Sola tattoo on his chest. Miranda manages to turn the syringe on Ryan before fleeing. In a drugged state, Ryan pursues Miranda through the jail, ranting proudly about his and Douglas's crimes; he tells her that Rachel was their first victim, and that they worked together to abduct, rape, and murder a string of local women. Suddenly, Rachel's apparition appears, distracting Ryan. He begins to shoot at it, causing a gas leak and subsequent explosion that sets him ablaze. Miranda obtains his gun, and shoots the burned Ryan to death. Moments later Pete arrives at the jail to try to save her, having realized the truth.


title: Gothika

text: Approximately a year later, Miranda, now freed, walks with Chloe, also released from the penitentiary, on a city sidewalk. Miranda claims to be free of Rachel's influence and sends Chloe off in a taxi. Miranda then sees a young boy standing in the middle of the road who appears as though he is about to be struck by a fire truck. Miranda yells for the boy to move, but after the fire truck passes through the boy without harming him, she realizes he was only a ghost. As Miranda walks away, she fails to notice a missing person flyer for the young boy on a nearby telephone pole.


title: Gothika

text: The fourth feature film produced by Dark Castle Entertainment, "Gothika" was the first to boast a high-profile leading cast, and was the company's largest-scale production at the time, with a budget of approximately $40 million.


title: Gothika

text: Berry was partly inspired to take the role because her mother, a nurse, worked in a psychiatric hospital for decades.


title: Gothika

text: Filming took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the spring of 2003. Shooting of Berry's sequences was temporarily halted for several weeks in May 2003, after Robert Downey Jr., while filming a tense scene with Berry, grabbed and twisted her arm, accidentally breaking it.


title: Gothika

text: The score's original music was composed by John Ottman. "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit (originally by The Who) was featured in the film but was not available on the soundtrack. The record was released on November 18, 2003, via Varèse Sarabande.


title: Gothika

text: "Gothika" was released on November 21, 2003, in North America, grossing $19.3 million in the opening weekend and ranking at #2, behind "The Cat in the Hat". It went on to gross $59.7 million in the US and $81.9 million from foreign markets for a worldwide total of $141.6 million.


title: Gothika

text: The review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 15% approval rating based on 169 reviews and an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Berry's acting talents can't save "Gothika" from its preposterous plot and bad dialogue." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 38 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Gothika

text: A more positive review came from Roger Ebert of "The Chicago Sun-Times", who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He wrote that "the plot is preposterous" but nonetheless felt that stylish direction and Berry's performance made "Gothika" enjoyable on its own "lurid" terms: "The casting of Halle Berry is useful to the movie, because she evokes a vulnerable quality that triggers our concern. Hitchcock might have wanted to work with her. He didn't cast so much for acting ability as for an innate quality."


title: Gothika

text: "Gothika" was released on VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video on March 2, 2004. The initial DVD release was available in both widescreen and fullscreen editions. A two-disc special edition DVD, featuring additional documentaries and bonus features, was subsequently released in October 2004. The film was released on Blu-ray by Warner Bros. on September 25, 2007.


title: Nordic aliens

text: In ufology, Nordic aliens are fictional humanoid extraterrestrials purported to come from the Pleiades who resemble Nordic-Scandinavians. Professed contactees describe them as being six to seven feet tall (about two meters) with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Debunked ufologist George Adamski is credited with being among the first to claim contact with Nordic aliens in the mid 1950s, and scholars note that the mythology of extraterrestrial visitation from beings with features described as "Aryan" often include claims of telepathy, benevolence, and physical beauty.


title: Nordic aliens

text: Cultural historian David J. Skal wrote that early stories of Nordic-type aliens may have been partially inspired by the 1951 film "The Day the Earth Stood Still", in which an extraterrestrial arrives on Earth to warn humanity about the dangers of atomic weapons. Bates College professor Stephanie Kelley-Romano described alien abduction beliefs as "a living myth", and notes that, among believers, Nordic aliens "are often associated with spiritual growth and love and act as protectors for the experiencers."


title: Nordic aliens

text: In contactee and ufology literature, Nordic aliens are often described as benevolent or even "magical" beings who want to observe and communicate with humans and are concerned about the Earth's environment or prospects for world peace. Believers also ascribe telepathic powers to Nordic aliens, and describe them as "paternal, watchful, smiling, affectionate, and youthful."


title: Nordic aliens

text: During the 1950s, many contactees, especially those in Europe, claimed encounters with beings fitting this description. Such claims became relatively less common in subsequent decades, as the grey alien supplanted the Nordic in most alleged accounts of extraterrestrial encounters.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad II (), also known as Vlad Dracul () or Vlad the Dragon (before 1395 – November 1447), was Voivode of Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He is internationally known as the father of Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula. Born an illegitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia, he spent his youth at the court of Sigismund of Luxembourg, who made him a member of the Order of the Dragon in 1431 (hence his sobriquet). Sigismund also recognized him as the lawful voivode of Wallachia, allowing him to settle in nearby Transylvania. Vlad could not assert his claim during the life of his half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, who acknowledged the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: After Alexander Aldea died in 1436, Vlad seized Wallachia with Hungarian support. Following the death of Sigismund of Luxembourg in 1437, Hungary's position weakened, causing Vlad to pay homage to Murad II, which included participating in Murad II's invasion of Transylvania in the summer of 1438. John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania, came to Wallachia to convince Vlad to join a crusade against the Ottomans in 1441. After Hunyadi routed an Ottoman army in Transylvania, the sultan ordered Vlad to come to Edirne where he was captured in 1442. Hunyadi invaded Wallachia and made Vlad's cousin, Basarab II, voivode.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad was released before the end of the year but was forced to leave his two young sons as hostages in the Ottoman court. He was restored in Wallachia with Ottoman support in 1443. He remained neutral during Hunyadi's "Long Campaign" against the Ottoman Empire between October 1443 and January 1444, but he sent 4,000 horsemen to fight against the Ottomans during the Crusade of Varna. With the support of a Burgundian fleet, he captured the important Ottoman fortress at Giurgiu in 1445. He made peace with the Ottoman Empire in 1446 or 1447, which contributed to the deterioration of his relationship with Hunyadi. Hunyadi invaded Wallachia, forcing Vlad to flee from Târgoviște in late November, where he was killed at a nearby village.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad's early life is poorly documented. He was born before 1395, and was one of the numerous illegitimate sons of Mircea I of Wallachia. Vlad's modern biographers agree that he was sent as a hostage to Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of Hungary, in 1395 or 1396. Sigismund mentioned that Vlad had been educated at his court, suggesting that he spent his youth in Buda, Nuremberg and other major towns of Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Mircea I died in 1418, and his only legitimate son (and co-ruler), Michael, succeeded him. Two years later, Michael died fighting against his cousin, Dan II (the son of Mircea I's elder brother, Dan I). During the following decade, Dan II and Vlad's half-brother, Radu II Praznaglava, were fighting against each other for Wallachia.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad left Buda for Poland without Sigismund's authorization in early 1423, but was captured before reaching the border. Before long, Sigismund acknowledged Dan II as the lawful ruler of Wallachia. The Byzantine historian, Doukas, recorded that Vlad was "an officer in the army" of the Byzantine Emperor, John VIII Palaiologos, and he "had access" to the imperial palace in Constantinople. Historian Radu Florescu says that Sigismund had appointed Vlad to receive John VIII (who had come to Italy to seek assistance against the Ottomans) in Venice in 1423, and Vlad accompanied the emperor back to Constantinople. After realizing that John VIII could not help him to seize Wallachia, Vlad returned to Hungary in 1429.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Sigismund made Vlad a first-class member of the Order of the Dragon (a chivalric order established by Sigismund) in Nuremberg on 8 February 1431. Other first-class members included Alfonso V of Aragon and Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. The dragon-shaped badge of the order gave rise to his Romanian sobriquet, "Dracul" ("the Dragon"), for which his sons became known as "Dracula" ("son of Dracul"). Vlad swore fealty to Sigismund who declared him the lawful prince of Wallachia. Vlad had to promise that he would protect the Roman Catholic Church. However, Sigismund did not assist him to seize Wallachia. In the summer, Vlad's half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, invaded Wallachia with Moldavian support and dethroned Dan II.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad did not abandon his claim to Wallachia and settled in Transylvania. A Neo-Renaissance mural in a three-storey house in the main square of Sighișoara (which was uncovered on the 500th anniversary of the death of Vlad Dracul's son, Dracula) may depict Vlad Dracul after an original painting, according to Radu Florescu. The mural depicts a corpulent man with oval-shaped eyes and long moustaches wearing a white turban.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Alexander Aldea went to Adrianople to do homage to the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II, in 1432. Vlad wanted to invade Wallachia with the support of Wallachian boyars (or noblemen) who had fled to Transylvania, but Alexander Aldea's principal official, Albu, prevented the invasion. Sigismund authorized Vlad to buy weapons and muster an army of exiled boyars only in 1434. In 1435, Alexander Aldea fell seriously ill and never recovered. Taking advantage of his brother's illness, Vlad broke into Wallachia, but Alexander Aldea and his Ottoman allies forced him to retreat.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Alexander Aldea died in autumn 1436, enabling Vlad Dracul to seize Wallachia with Hungarian support. He did not dismiss his predecessor's officials with the exception of Albu, who thus became his enemy. Vlad did not confirm the treaty that Alexander Aldea had concluded with the Ottomans, provoking an Ottoman incursion against Wallachia in November.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad's patron, Sigismund of Luxembourg, died on 9 December 1437. Sigismund's death and the uprising of the Transylvanian peasants weakened Hungary, forcing Vlad to seek reconciliation with the Ottoman Empire. He went to Edirne and swore fealty to Murad II. He also promised to pay a yearly tribute to the sultan and to support the Ottomans' military campaigns at the sultan's order. Before long, Murad II decided to invade Hungary and gathered his troops at Vidin.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Albert of Habsburg (who was Sigismund of Luxembourg's son-in-law and successor) wrote a letter to Vlad, ordering him to protect Transylvania. Ignoring the king's command, Vlad joined Murad II who came to Wallachia at the head of his army in summer 1438, serving the sultan as his guide. The Ottoman and Wallachian troops broke into Hungary at Orșova. They routed the army of a local Vlach "kenez", Cândea, near Hațeg. They marched along the river Mureș, capturing Câlnic and Sebeș. At Sebeș, Vlad convinced the leaders of the town to give in without resistance, promising to protect their property if they accompanied him to Wallachia. The Ottomans and Wallachians laid siege to Sibiu, but the siege lasted only for 8 days. They destroyed the outskirts of Brașov, before they left Hungary loaded with plunder and taking more than 30,000 captives.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: After the Ottoman army left Wallachia, Vlad offered Albert of Habsburg to set the burghers who had been captured at Sebeș free, but the king (who regarded them traitors) refused his offer. Vlad's attempts to maintain a balance between Hungary and the Ottomans made both the king and the sultan suspicious about his true intentions. Albert allowed a pretender to the Wallachian throne, Basarab (who was a son of Dan II) to settle in Hungary. The Ottomans strengthened the fortress of Giurgiu and sent new troops to garrison the town.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Albert of Habsburg died on 27 October 1439. The majority of the Hungarian noblemen elected Władysław III of Poland king in early 1440. Władysław made the talented military commander, John Hunyadi, voivode of Transylvania in February 1441. Hunyadi who decided to restore the influence of Hungary in Wallachia ordered the burghers of Brașov to mint coins for Vlad around 15 October. Two or three weeks later, Hunyadi came to Târgoviște to meet Vlad, demanding him to join a crusade against the Ottoman Empire.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: After Hunyadi defeated the Ottomans in Transylvania in March 1442, the Ottoman governor of Bulgaria accused Vlad of treachery, according to the contemporaneous Ottoman historian, Neşri. Murad summoned Vlad to Edirne to demonstrate his loyalty. Before departing, Vlad made his eldest son, Mircea, the ruler of Wallachia. Soon after he came to Edirne, he was captured at the sultan's command. He was held in captivity in Gallipoli.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Murad sent Hadım Şehabeddin, Beylerbey (or governor) of Rumelia, to annex Wallachia in August 1442. Hunyadi annihilated the Ottoman army in the Carpathian Mountains in September, and made Vlad's cousin, Basarab, voivode of Wallachia. Before the end of the year, Murad II released Vlad. Vlad had to pledge that he would not support the enemies of the Ottoman Empire and he would pay an annual tribute and send 500 Wallachian boys to serve as janissaries in the sultan's army. He was also forced to leave his two sons, Vlad and Radu, as hostages in the Ottoman Empire.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: The circumstances of Vlad's return to Wallachia are unknown. He regained his throne between March and September 1443. During Hunyadi's "Long Campaign" against the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from October 1443 to January 1444, Vlad remained neutral, especially because the sultan promised the release of his two sons. In the ensuing peace negotiations between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, Murad II was willing to release Vlad from his obligation to personally visit his court, but the papal legate, Julian Cesarini, prevented the ratification of the peace treaty. Instead, he urged Władysław to continue the crusade against the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, Vlad tried to dissuade Władysław III from waging war against the Ottomans, reminding him that Murad II went hunting with more retainers than Władysław had troops, according to the Polish historian, Jan Długosz. Nevertheless, he sent 4,000 horsemen under the command of his son, Mircea, to fight against the Ottomans.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: The crusade ended with the catastrophic defeat of the crusaders in the Battle of Varna on 10 November 1444. After the battle Hunyadi wanted to return to Hungary through Wallachia, but he was captured by Wallachian soldiers at the Danube. Vlad only released him after Lawrence Héderváry, Palatine of Hungary, threatened him with a war. According to historian John Jefferson, Vlad held Hunyadi in captivity because he wanted to hand him over to the sultan. Camil Mureşanu writes that Hunyadi was only imprisoned because the soldiers who captured him did not recognize him. Historian Kurt W. Teptow says, Vlad held Hunyadi responsible for the catastrophe and almost killed him. After releasing Hunyadi, Vlad gave him precious gifts and accompanied him as far as the Hungarian border.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: A fleet of Burgundian crusaders attacked the Ottoman fleet on the Black Sea in the spring 1445. The commander of the fleet, Walerand of Wavrin, sent envoys to Hungary to start negotiations about a joint campaign against the Ottoman Empire. At Hunyadi's request, one of Wavrin's envoys, Pedro Vasque de Saavedra, visited Vlad and convinced him to meet Wavrin. In July, Vlad went to Isaccea where he made an alliance with Wavrin. Vlad mustered an army of 4,000–6,000 strong and placed it under the command of his son, Mircea.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: The Burgundian and Wallachian army laid siege to Silistra in the middle of September, but they could not capture it. Before long, however, they conquered and destroyed the small fort at Tutrakan. Vlad convinced Wavrin to attack Giurgiu, saying that whenever the Ottomans "want to harry Wallachia or Transylvania, they and their horses can cross" the Danube near the fortified island at Giurgiu, connected to the Wallachian bank by a bridge. During the siege of Giurgiu, two iron rings of a large bombard suddenly broke, killing two soldiers, because Vlad, who was in the command of the fire, did not allow the bombard to cool down between blows. The Ottoman garrison of the fortress capitulated on the condition that they were allowed to freely leave for the Ottoman Empire. However, after they left the fortress, 2,000 Wallachian soldiers attacked and massacred them at Vlad's order, because he regarded the commander of the Ottoman garrison responsible for his captivity in 1442.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Before long, the Ottoman garrison at Ruse also capitulated. Vlad gave asylum to more than 11,000 Bulgarians who had rebelled against the Ottomans, assisting them to cross the Danube into Wallachia. The Burgundian crusaders and the Wallachians approached Nicopolis, where a Hungarian army under the command of John Hunyadi joined them on 14 September. However, an early frost forced the crusaders to abandon the campaign in October, because they feared that the Danube would freeze over.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: The relationship between Wallachia and Hungary soon deteriorated. In a letter written late in 1445 to the townspeople of Brașov, Vlad complained that Wallachian merchants were arrested in Transylvania, although he had left his "little children to be butchered for Christian peace so that [he] and [his] country [could] be subjects" of the king of Hungary. His words evidence that he was convinced that his two sons had been murdered in the Ottoman Empire, but the sultan did not harm the boys. In 1446 or 1447, Vlad made peace with the Ottomans, even agreeing to return the Bulgarian refugees to the Ottoman Empire. He intervened in the fight for the Moldavian throne in favor of Roman II of Moldavia in July 1447. The Poles also supported Roman, but Roman's opponent, Peter II, was Hunyadi's protégé.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: On 20 July 1447, John Hunyadi ordered the burghers of Brașov to give shelter to a pretender to the Wallachian throne, Vladislav, who was a cousin of Vlad. Hunyadi unexpectedly broke into Wallachia in late November, taking with him Vladislav (also known as Dan). Vlad fled from Târgoviște, but he was captured and killed in the marshes at Bălteni. In a letter written on 4 December 1447, Hunyadi styled himself "voivode of the Transalpine land" (Wallachia) and referred to Târgoviște as his fortress, implying that he had taken control of Wallachia by that time. Hunyadi placed Vladislav on the throne of Wallachia.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: The place of Vlad Dracul's burial has not been identified. Cazacu says, he was most probably buried in the Monastery of Snagov. Florescu writes, Vlad Dracul was buried in a chapel in the Dealu Monastery near Târgoviște.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: According to a widely accepted scholarly theory, Vlad's wife was "Cneajna", a daughter of Alexander I of Moldavia. She was called Eupraxia, according to Florescu. Historian Matei Cazacu writes that she was his second wife. He does not identify Vlad's first wife. Vlad's descendants were known as Drăculești, because they adopted Vlad's sobriquet as their patronymic (Dracula). The conflict between the Drăculești and the Dănești (the descendants of Dan I of Wallachia), and strifes between the members of the Drăculești line contributed to the political instability in 15th-century Wallachia.


title: Vlad II Dracul

text: Vlad's eldest sons, Mircea and Vlad Dracula, were first mentioned in a charter of Vlad on 20 January 1437. Mircea was born in about 1428, Vlad between 1429 and 1431. Their brother (Vlad Dracul's third son), Radu the Fair, was born before 2 August 1439. Florescu writes that Vlad Dracul's daughter, Alexandra, married the Wallachian boyar Vintilă Florescu. Vlad Dracul also fathered illegitimate children. A Wallachian noblewoman, Călțuna, gave birth to Vlad the Monk. Almost no information is known about the life of another illegitimate son, Mircea.


title: Video file format

text: A video file format is a type of file format for storing digital video data on a computer system. Video is almost always stored using lossy compression to reduce the file size.


title: Video file format

text: A video file normally consists of a container (e.g. in the Matroska format) containing visual (video without audio) data in a video coding format (e.g. VP9) alongside audio data in an audio coding format (e.g. Opus). The container can also contain synchronization information, subtitles, and metadata such as title. A standardized (or in some cases de facto standard) video file type such as .webm is a profile specified by a restriction on which container format and which video and audio compression formats are allowed.


title: Video file format

text: The coded video and audio inside a video file container (i.e. not headers, footers, and metadata) is called the essence. A program (or hardware) which can decode compressed video or audio is called a codec; playing or encoding a video file will sometimes require the user to install a codec library corresponding to the type of video and audio coding used in the file.


title: Video file format

text: Good design normally dictates that a file extension enables the user to derive which program will open the file from the file extension. That is the case with some video file formats, such as WebM (.webm), Windows Media Video (.wmv), Flash Video (.flv), and Ogg Video (.ogv), each of which can only contain a few well-defined subtypes of video and audio coding formats, making it relatively easy to know which codec will play the file. In contrast to that, some very general-purpose container types like AVI (.avi) and QuickTime (.mov) can contain video and audio in almost any format, and have file extensions named after the container type, making it very hard for the end user to use the file extension to derive which codec or program to use to play the files.


title: Video file format

text: The free software FFmpeg project's libraries have very wide support for encoding and decoding video file formats. For example, Google uses ffmpeg to support a wide range of upload video formats for YouTube. One widely used media player using the ffmpeg libraries is the free software VLC media player, which can play most video files that end users will encounter.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Paradiso (; Italian for "Paradise" or "Heaven") is the third and final part of Dante's "Divine Comedy", following the "Inferno" and the "Purgatorio". It is an allegory telling of Dante's journey through Heaven, guided by Beatrice, who symbolises theology. In the poem, Paradise is depicted as a series of concentric spheres surrounding the Earth, consisting of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, the Primum Mobile and finally, the Empyrean. It was written in the early 14th century. Allegorically, the poem represents the soul's ascent to God.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The "Paradiso" begins at the top of Mount Purgatory, called the Earthly Paradise (i.e. the Garden of Eden), at noon on Wednesday, March 30 (or April 13), 1300, following Easter Sunday. Dante's journey through Paradise takes approximately twenty-four hours, which indicates that the entire journey of the "Divine Comedy" has taken one week, Thursday evening ("Inferno" I and II) to Thursday evening.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: After ascending through the sphere of fire believed to exist in the earth's upper atmosphere (Canto I), Beatrice guides Dante through the nine celestial spheres of Heaven, to the Empyrean, which is the abode of God. The nine spheres are concentric, as in the standard medieval geocentric model of cosmology, which was derived from Ptolemy. The Empyrean is non-material. As with his Purgatory, the structure of Dante's Heaven is therefore of the form 9+1=10, with one of the ten regions different in nature from the other nine.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: During the course of his journey, Dante meets and converses with several blessed souls. He is careful to say that these all actually live in bliss with God in the Empyrean:


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: However, for Dante's benefit (and the benefit of his readers), he is "as a sign" shown various souls in planetary and stellar spheres that have some appropriate connotation.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: While the structures of the "Inferno" and "Purgatorio" were based around different classifications of sin, the structure of the "Paradiso" is based on the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude) and the three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity).


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Dante's nine spheres of Heaven are the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, and the Primum Mobile. These are associated by Dante with the nine levels of the angelic hierarchy. Dante also relies on traditional associations, such as the one between Venus and romantic love. The first three spheres (which fall within the shadow of the Earth) are associated with deficient forms of Fortitude, Justice, and Temperance. The next four are associated with positive examples of Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, and Temperance; while Faith, Hope, and Love appear together in the eighth sphere.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: When visiting the Moon, Beatrice explains to Dante the reasons for the markings on its surface, describing a simple scientific experiment in optics. She also praises the experimental method in general (Canto II):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The waxing and waning of the moon is associated with inconstancy. Consequently, the sphere of the Moon is that of souls who abandoned their vows, and so were deficient in the virtue of fortitude (Canto II). Here Dante and Beatrice meet Piccarda, sister of Dante's friend Forese Donati, who died shortly after being forcibly removed from her convent. They also meet Constance of Sicily, who (Dante believes) was forcibly removed from a convent to marry Henry VI (Canto III). Beatrice discourses on the freedom of the will, the sacredness of vows, and the importance of not collaborating with force (Canto IV):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Beatrice explains that a vow is a pact "drawn between a man / and God," in which a person freely offers up his free will as a gift to God. Vows should therefore not be taken lightly, and should be kept once given – unless keeping the vow would be a greater evil, as with Jephthah's and Agamemnon's sacrifice of their daughters (Canto V).


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Because of its proximity to the sun, the planet Mercury is often difficult to see. Allegorically, the planet represents those who did good out of a desire for fame, but who, being ambitious, were deficient in the virtue of justice. Their earthly glory pales into insignificance beside the glory of God, just as Mercury pales into insignificance beside the sun. Here Dante meets the Emperor Justinian, who introduces himself with the words "Caesar I was and am Justinian," indicating that his personality remains, but that his earthly status no longer exists in Heaven (Canto VI). Justinian recounts the history of the Roman Empire, mentioning, among others, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra; and bemoans the present state of Italy, given the conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines, and the involvement of the "yellow lilies" of France (Canto VI):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: By association, Beatrice discourses on the Incarnation and the Crucifixion of Christ, which occurred during Roman times (Canto VII).


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The planet Venus (the Morning and Evening Star) is traditionally associated with the Goddess of Love, and so Dante makes this the planet of the lovers, who were deficient in the virtue of temperance (Canto VIII):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Dante meets Charles Martel of Anjou, who was known to him, and who points out that a properly functioning society requires people of many different kinds. Such differences are illustrated by Cunizza da Romano (lover of Sordello), who is here in Heaven, while her brother Ezzelino III da Romano is in Hell, among the violent of the seventh circle.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The troubadour Folquet de Marseilles speaks of the temptations of love, and points out that (as was believed at the time) the cone of the Earth's shadow just touches the sphere of Venus. He condemns the city of Florence (planted, he says, by Satan) for producing that "damned flower" (the florin) which is responsible for the corruption of the Church, and he criticises the clergy for their focus on money, rather than on Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers (Canto IX):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Beyond the shadow of the Earth, Dante deals with positive examples of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude. Within the Sun, which is the Earth's source of illumination, Dante meets the greatest examples of prudence: the souls of the wise, who help to illuminate the world intellectually (Canto X). Initially, a circle of twelve bright lights dance around Dante and Beatrice. These are the souls of:


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: This list includes philosophers, theologians and a king, and has representatives from across Europe. Thomas Aquinas recounts the life of St. Francis of Assisi, and his love for "Lady Poverty" (Canto XI):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Twelve new bright lights appear, one of which is St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan, who recounts the life of St. Dominic, founder of the order to which Aquinas belonged. The two orders were not always friendly on earth, and having members of one order praising the founder of the other shows the love present in Heaven (Canto XII). The twenty-four bright lights revolve around Dante and Beatrice, singing of the Trinity, and Aquinas explains the surprising presence of King Solomon, who is placed here for kingly, rather than philosophical or mathematical wisdom (Cantos XIII and XIV):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The planet Mars is traditionally associated with the God of War, and so Dante makes this planet the home of the warriors of the Faith, who gave their lives for God, thereby displaying the virtue of fortitude. The millions of sparks of light that are the souls of these warriors form a Greek cross on the planet Mars, and Dante compares this cross to the Milky Way (Canto XIV):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Dante says that sages are "perplexed" by the nature of the Milky Way, but in his "Convivio", he had described its nature fairly well:


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: What Aristotle said on this matter cannot be known with certainty. In the Old Translation he says that the Galaxy is nothing but a multitude of fixed stars in that region, so small that we are unable to distinguish them from here below, though from them originates the appearance of that brightness which we call the Galaxy; this may be so, for the heaven in that region is denser, and therefore retains and throws back this light. Avicenna and Ptolemy seem to share this opinion with Aristotle.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Dante meets his ancestor Cacciaguida, who served in the Second Crusade. Cacciaguida praises the twelfth-century Republic of Florence, and bemoans the way in which the city has declined since those days (Cantos XV and XVI). The setting of the "Divine Comedy" in the year 1300, before Dante's exile, has allowed characters in the poem to "foretell" bad things for Dante. In response to a question from Dante, Cacciaguida speaks the truth bluntly. Dante will be exiled (Canto XVII):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: However, Cacciaguida also charges Dante to write and tell the world all that he has seen of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Finally, Dante sees some other warriors of the Faith, such as Joshua, Judas Maccabeus, Charlemagne, Roland, and Godfrey of Bouillon (Canto XVIII).


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The planet Jupiter is traditionally associated with the king of the gods, so Dante makes this planet the home of the rulers who displayed justice. The souls here spell out the Latin for "Love justice, ye that judge the earth", after which the final "M" of that sentence is transformed into the shape of a giant imperial eagle (Canto XVIII):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Present in this sphere are David, Hezekiah, Constantine, and William II of Sicily, as well as two pagans: Trajan (converted to Christianity according to a medieval legend) and (to Dante's amazement) Ripheus the Trojan, who was saved by the mercy of God in an act of predestination. Trajan has appeared in the "Divine Comedy" before as an example of humility on terrace of pride. On this terrace, Dante sees Trajan surrounded by his soldiers on their way to a military conquest, but Trajan halts after a grieving woman asks him to deliver justice to her son's murderers. The souls form the imperial eagle of divine justice, speaking with one voice of God's justice (Cantos XIX and XX). Dante uses this opportune moment in front of the eagle to ask about the accessibility of Heaven to people who were born before Christ or lived in an area where Christianity was not taught. Dante starts his question by positing such a person (Canto XIX):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The only fault of this educated and knowledgable man, born in the wrong place for knowledge of salvation, is his lack of faith and baptism. Shall he be denied Heaven? To answer Dante's question, the eagle says (Canto XIX):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: At the very core of salvation is a belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. No matter whether a person was born before Christ or after, in Florence or by the Indus, he or she can believe that Christ would come or had come to save humanity. This is the small opening that allows for people like the man in Dante's example to ascend to Heaven.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The sphere of Saturn is that of the contemplatives, who embody temperance. Dante here meets Peter Damian, and discusses with him monasticism, the doctrine of predestination, and the sad state of the Church. Dante also meets Saint Benedict, who laments the worldliness of his own monks (Cantos XXI and XXII). Beatrice, who represents theology, becomes increasingly lovely here, indicating the contemplative's closer insight into the truth of God:


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The sphere of the Fixed Stars is the sphere of the church triumphant. From here (in fact, from the constellation Gemini, under which he was born), Dante looks back on the seven spheres he has visited, and on the Earth (Canto XXII):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Here, Dante sees the Virgin Mary and other saints (Canto XXIII). St. Peter tests Dante on faith, asking what it is, and whether Dante has it. In response to Dante's reply, St. Peter asks Dante how he knows that the Bible is true, and (in an argument attributed to Augustine) Dante cites the miracle of the Church's growth from such humble beginnings (Canto XXIV):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Finally, St. John questions Dante on love. In his reply, Dante refers back to the concept of "twisted love" discussed in the "Purgatorio" (Canto XXVI):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: St. Peter then denounces Pope Boniface VIII in very strong terms, and says that, in his eyes, the Papal See stands empty (Canto XXVII).


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The Primum Mobile ("first moved" sphere) is the last sphere of the physical universe. It is moved directly by God, and its motion causes all the spheres it encloses to move (Canto XXVII):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: The Primum Mobile is the abode of angels, and here Dante sees God as an intensely bright point of light surrounded by nine rings of angels (Canto XXVIII). Beatrice explains the creation of the universe, and the role of the angels, ending with a forceful criticism of the preachers of the day (Canto XXIX):


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: From the Primum Mobile, Dante ascends to a region beyond physical existence, the Empyrean, which is the abode of God. Beatrice, representing theology, is here transformed to be more beautiful than ever before. Her beauty echoes the tradition of courtly lyric, which also pertains to her courtly role in the narrative that revolves around helping Dante and purifying him so he can ascend. Dante becomes enveloped in light, first blinding him and then rendering him fit to see God (Canto XXX).


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Dante sees an enormous rose, symbolising divine love, the petals of which are the enthroned souls of the faithful (both those of the Old Testament and those of the New). All the souls he has met in Heaven, including Beatrice, have their home in this rose, and angels fly around the rose like bees, distributing peace and love. Beatrice now returns to her place in the rose, signifying that Dante has passed beyond theology in direct contemplation of God; St. Bernard, as a mystical contemplative, now guides Dante further (Canto XXXI), describing the heavenly rose and its occupants. (St. Bernard may represent God, since he welcomes the pilgrim to the Empyrean, after which Dante is able to see God; in this reading, Beatrice would represent the Holy Spirit because she purifies Dante and brings him to St. Bernard and the Empyrean.) Ten women and eight men are pointed out to Dante in the Empyrean; the ladies appear in a hierarchy where Mary is the head and Eve is directly beneath her, followed by seven other Biblical women and Beatrice. The outnumbering of men by women recalls the beginning of the "Inferno", in which many women appear in Limbo.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: St. Bernard further explains predestination and prays to the Virgin Mary on Dante's behalf. (The Empyrean as a whole abounds in Marian elements, such as the canto number 32's digits' adding up to five, which may represent Mary because of her five-letter name—Maria—and her experiences' having notably come in sets of five.) St. Bernard's prayer, which includes an anaphora using the informal second-person pronoun, draws from a history of similar prayers beginning as early as Greek eulogies. In late medieval Italy, poets such as Jacopone da Todi wrote praises of Mary called "laude", and Dante's prayer to the Virgin takes inspiration from this tradition and condenses its form, focusing first on Mary's role on Earth and then her role in Heaven and her motherly qualities.


title: Paradiso (Dante)

text: Finally, Dante comes face to face with God (Cantos XXXII and XXXIII). God appears as three equally large circles occupying the same space, representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Within these circles Dante can discern the human form of Christ. The "Divine Comedy" ends with Dante trying to understand how the circles fit together, and how the humanity of Christ relates to the divinity of the Son but, as Dante puts it, "that was not a flight for my wings". In a flash of understanding, which he cannot express, Dante does finally see this, and his soul becomes aligned with God's love.


title: Ç

text: Ç or ç (C-cedilla) is a Latin script letter, used in the Albanian, Azerbaijani, Manx, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Kurdish, Zazaki, and Romance alphabets. Romance languages that use this letter include Catalan, French, Friulian, Ligurian, Occitan, and Portuguese as a variant of the letter "C" with a cedilla. It is also occasionally used in Crimean Tatar and in Tajik (when written in the Latin script) to represent the sound. It is often retained in the spelling of loanwords from any of these languages in English, Basque, Dutch, Spanish and other languages using the Latin alphabet.


title: Ç

text: It was first used for the sound of the voiceless alveolar affricate in Old Spanish and stems from the Visigothic form of the letter "z" ("Ꝣ"). The phoneme originated in Vulgar Latin from the palatalization of the plosives and in some conditions. Later, changed into in many Romance languages and dialects. Spanish has not used the symbol since an orthographic reform in the 18th century (which replaced "ç" with the now-devoiced "z"), but it was adopted for writing other languages.


title: Ç

text: In many languages, represents the "soft" sound where a would normally represent the "hard" sound . These include:


title: Ç

text: In Manx, it is used in the digraph , which also represents , to differentiate it from normal , which represents .


title: Ç

text: In the 2020 version of the Latin Kazakh Alphabet, the letter represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate , which is similar to .


title: Ç

text: It previously represented a voiceless palatal click in Juǀʼhoansi and Naro, though the former has replaced it with and the latter with .


title: Ç

text: The similarly shaped letter the (Ҫ ҫ) is used in the Cyrillic alphabets of Bashkir and Chuvash to represent and , respectively.


title: Ç

text: On Albanian, Belgian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish and Italian keyboards, is directly available as a separate key; however, on most other keyboards, including the US and British keyboard, a combination of keys must be used:


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Merkabah ( "merkāvā", "chariot") or Merkavah mysticism (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of early Jewish mysticism, c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE, centered on visions such as those found in the Book of Ezekiel chapter 1, or in the hekhalot literature ("palaces" literature), concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces and the Throne of God. The main corpus of the merkabah literature was composed in the period 200–700 CE, although later references to the Chariot tradition can also be found in the literature of the Chassidei Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages. A major text in this tradition is the "Maaseh Merkabah" (Hebrew: מַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה "maʿăśē merkāvā", "Work of the Chariot").


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The noun "merkabah/merkavah" "thing to ride in, cart" is derived from the consonantal root "" with the general meaning "to ride". The word "chariot" is found 44 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible—most of them referring to normal chariots on earth, and although the concept of the merkabah is associated with Ezekiel's vision (1:4–26), the word is not explicitly written in Ezekiel 1.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: However, when left untranslated, in English the Hebrew term "merkabah/merkavah" (, , and ) relates to the throne-chariot of God in prophetic visions. It is most closely associated with the vision in Ezekiel chapter 1 of the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four "hayyot" ("living creatures"), each of which has four wings and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle (or vulture).


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: According to the verses in Ezekiel and its attendant commentaries, his vision consists of a chariot made of many heavenly beings driven by the "Likeness of a Man". The base structure of the chariot is composed of four beings. These beings are called the "living creatures" (Hebrew: חיות "hayyot" or "khayyot"). The bodies of the creatures are "like that of a human being", but each of them has four faces, corresponding to the four directions the chariot can go (East, South, North and West). The faces are that of a man, a lion, an ox (later changed to a cherub in Ezekiel ) and an eagle. Since there are four angels and each has four faces, there are a total of sixteen faces. Each of the "hayyot" angels also has four wings. Two of these wings spread across the length of the chariot and connect with the wings of the angel on the other side. This creates a sort of 'box' of wings that forms the perimeter of the chariot. With the remaining two wings, each angel covers its own body. Below, but not attached to, the feet of the "hayyot" angels are other angels that are shaped like wheels. These wheel angels, which are described as "a wheel inside of a wheel", are called ""ophanim"" אופנים (lit. wheels, cycles or ways). These wheels are not directly under the chariot but are nearby and along its perimeter. The angel with the face of the man is always on the east side and looks up at the "Likeness of a Man" that drives the chariot. The "Likeness of a Man" sits on a throne made of sapphire.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The Bible later makes mention of a third type of angel found in the merkabah called ""seraphim"" (lit. "burning") angels. These angels appear like flashes of fire continuously ascending and descending. These "seraphim" angels power the movement of the chariot. In the hierarchy of these angels, "hayyoth" are the highest, that is, closest to God, followed by the "ophanim", which are followed by the "seraphim". The chariot is in a constant state of motion, and the energy behind this movement runs according to this hierarchy. The movement of the "ophanim" is controlled by the "Living creatures", or "Hayyot", while the movement of the "hayyot" is controlled by the "seraphim". The movement of all the angels of the chariot is controlled by the "Likeness of a Man" on the Throne.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Mark Verman has distinguished four periods in early Jewish mysticism, developing from Isaiah's and Ezekiel's visions of the Throne/Chariot, to later extant merkabah mysticism texts:


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The earliest Rabbinic merkabah commentaries were exegetical expositions of the prophetic visions of God in the heavens, and the divine retinue of angels, hosts, and heavenly creatures surrounding God. The earliest evidence suggests that merkabah homiletics did not give rise to ascent experiences—as one rabbinic sage states: "Many have expounded upon the merkabah without ever seeing it."


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: One mention of the merkabah in the Talmud notes the importance of the passage: "A great issue—the account of the merkavah; a small issue—the discussions of Abaye and Rava [famous Talmudic sages]." The sages Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai (d. c. 80 CE) and later, Rabbi Akiva (d. 135) were deeply involved in merkabah exegesis. Rabbi Akiva and his contemporary Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha are most often the protagonists of later merkabah ascent literature.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The Talmudic interdictions concerning merkabah speculation are numerous and widely held. Discussions concerning the merkabah were limited to only the most worthy sages, and admonitory legends are preserved about the dangers of overzealous speculation concerning the merkabah.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: For example, the secret doctrines might not be discussed in public: "Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength. But what is commanded thee, think thereupon with reverence; for it is not needful for thee to see with thine eyes the things that are in secret." It must be studied only by exemplary scholars: ""Ma'aseh Bereshit" must not be explained before two, nor "Ma'aseh Merkabah" before one, unless he be wise and understands it by himself." Further commentary notes that the chapter-headings of "Ma'aseh Merkabah" may be taught, as was done by Rabbi Ḥiyya. According to "Yer. Hagigah" ii. 1, the teacher read the headings of the chapters, after which, subject to the approval of the teacher, the pupil read to the end of the chapter, although Rabbi Zera said that even the chapter-headings might be communicated only to a person who was head of a school and was cautious in temperament.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: According to Rabbi Ammi, the secret doctrine might be entrusted only to one who possessed the five qualities enumerated in (being experienced in any of five different professions requiring good judgement), and a certain age is, of course, necessary. When R. Johanan wished to initiate R. Eliezer in the "Ma'aseh Merkabah", the latter answered, "I am not yet old enough." A boy who recognized the meaning of () was consumed by fire ("Hagigah" 13b), and the perils connected with the unauthorized discussion of these subjects are often described ("Hagigah" ii. 1; "Shab." 80b).


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Beyond the rabbinic community, Jewish apocalyptists also engaged in visionary exegeses concerning the divine realm and the divine creatures which are remarkably similar to the rabbinic material. A small number of texts unearthed at Qumran indicate that the Dead Sea community also engaged in merkabah exegesis. Recently uncovered Jewish mystical texts also evidence a deep affinity with the rabbinic merkabah homilies.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The merkabah homilies eventually consisted of detailed descriptions of multiple layered heavens (usually Seven Heavens), often guarded over by angels, and encircled by flames and lightning. The highest heaven contains seven palaces ("hekhalot"), and in the innermost palace resides a supreme divine image (God's Glory or an angelic image) seated on a throne, surrounded by awesome hosts who sing God's praise.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: When these images were combined with an actual mystical experiential motif of individual ascent (paradoxically called "descent" in most texts, "Yordei Merkabah", "descenders of the chariot", perhaps describing inward contemplation) and union is not precisely known. By inference, contemporary historians of Jewish mysticism usually date this development to the third century CE. Again, there is a significant dispute among historians over whether these ascent and unitive themes were the result of some foreign, usually Gnostic, influence, or a natural progression of religious dynamics within rabbinic Judaism.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: "Maaseh Merkabah" ("Work of the Chariot") is the modern name given to a "Hekhalot" text, discovered by scholar Gershom Scholem. "Maaseh Merkabah" dates from late Hellenistic period, after the end of the Second Temple period following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE when the physical cult ceased to function. The idea of making a journey to the heavenly "hekhal" seems to be a kind of spiritualization of the pilgrimages to the earthly "hekhal" that were now no longer possible. It is a form of pre-Kabbalah Jewish mysticism that teaches both of the possibility of making a sublime journey to God and of the ability of man to draw down divine powers to earth; it seems to have been an esoteric movement that grew out of the priestly mysticism already evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls and some apocalyptic writings (see the studies by Rachel Elior).


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Several movements in Jewish mysticism and, later, students of the Kabbalah have focused on these passages from Ezekiel, seeking underlying meaning and the secrets of Creation in what they argued was the metaphoric language of the verses.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Due to the concern of some Torah scholars that misunderstanding these passages as literal descriptions of God's image might lead to blasphemy or idolatry, there was great opposition to studying this topic without the proper initiation. Jewish biblical commentaries emphasize that the imagery of the merkabah is not meant to be taken literally; rather the chariot and its accompanying angels are analogies for the various ways that God reveals himself in this world. Hasidic philosophy and kabbalah discuss at length what each aspect of this vision represents in this world, and how the vision does not imply that God is made up of these forms.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Jews customarily read the Biblical passages concerning the merkabah in the synagogue every year on the holiday of Shavuot, and the merkabah is also referenced in several places in traditional Jewish liturgy.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The main interests of Hekhalot literature are accounts of divine visions, mystical ascents into heaven and observance of the divine council, and the summoning and control of great angels, usually for the purpose of gaining insight into Torah. The "locus classicus" for these practices is the biblical accounts of the Chariot vision of Ezekiel and the Temple vision of Isaiah (Chap. ). It is from these, and from the many extra-canonical apocalyptic writings of heavenly visitations, that hekhalot literature emerges. Still, it is distinctive from both Qumran literature and apocalyptic writings for several reasons, chief among them being that hekhalot literature is not at all interested in eschatology, largely ignores the unique status of the priesthood, has little interest in fallen angels or demonology, and it "democratizes" the possibility of divine ascent.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: In their visions, these mystics would enter into the celestial realms and journey through the seven stages of mystical ascent: the Seven Heavens and seven throne rooms. Such a journey is fraught with great danger, and the adept must not only have made elaborate purification preparation, but must also know the proper incantations, seals and angelic names needed to get past the fierce angelic guards, as well as know how to navigate the various forces at work inside and outside the palaces.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: This heavenly ascent is accomplished by the recital of hymns, as well as the theurgic use of secret names of God which abound in the Hekhalot literature. The "Hekalot Zutarti" in particular is concerned with the secret names of God and their powers:


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: At times, heavenly interlocutors will reveal divine secrets. In some texts, the mystic's interest extends to the heavenly music and liturgy, usually connected with the angelic adorations mentioned in Isaiah 6:3. The mantra-like repetitive nature of the liturgies recorded in many of these compositions seems meant to encourage further ascent. The ultimate goal of the ascent varies from text to text. In some cases, it seems to be a visionary glimpse of God, to "Behold the King in His Beauty". Others hint at "enthronement", that the adept be accepted among the angelic retinue of God and be given an honored seat. One text actually envisions the successful pilgrim getting to sit in God's "lap". Scholars such as Peter Schaefer and Elliot Wolfson see an erotic theology implied in this kind of image, though it must be said sexual motifs, while present in highly attenuated forms, are few and far between if one surveys the full scope of the literature.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Literary works related to the Hekhalot tradition that have survived in whole or in part include "Hekhalot Rabbati" (or "Pirkei Hekhalot"), "Hekhalot Zutarti", 3rd Enoch (also known as "Hebrew Enoch"), and "Maaseh Merkabah". In addition there are many smaller and fragmentary manuscripts that seem to belong to this genre, but their exact relationship to "Maaseh Merkabah" mysticism and to each other is often not clear (Dennis, 2007, 199–120).


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The ascent texts are extant in four principal works, all redacted well after the third but certainly before the ninth century CE. They are:


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: A fifth work provides a detailed description of the Creator as seen by the "descenders" at the climax of their ascent. This work, preserved in various forms, is called "Shi'ur Qomah" ("Measurement of the Body"), and is rooted in a mystical exegesis of the Song of Songs, a book reputedly venerated by Rabbi Akiva. The literal message of the work was repulsive to those who maintained God's incorporeality; Maimonides (d. 1204) wrote that the book should be erased and all mention of its existence deleted.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: While throughout the era of merkabah mysticism the problem of creation was not of paramount importance, the treatise "Sefer Yetzirah" ("Book of Creation") represents an attempted cosmogony from within a merkabah milieu. This text was probably composed during the seventh century, and evidence suggests Neoplatonic, Pythagoric, and Stoic influences. It features a linguistic theory of creation in which God creates the universe by combining the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, along with emanations represented by the ten numerals, or "sefirot".


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Certain key concepts found in the Sefer Yetzirah, such as the "6 directions", are mentioned in the Talmud, and also the book title of the book is referenced: yet scholars do not conclude that the versions of the Sefer Yetzirah that have been handed down today are identical to the book which the Talmud references.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Moshe Idel, Gershom Scholem, Joseph Dan, and others have raised the natural question concerning the relationship between the "chambers" portion of the Hekhalot literature and the Babylonian Talmud's treatment of "The Work of the Chariot" in the presentation and analysis of such in the Gemara to tractate "Hagigah" of the Mishna. This portion of the Babylonian Talmud, which includes the famous "four entered "pardes"" material, runs from 12b-iv (wherein the Gemara's treatment of the "Work of Creation" flows into and becomes its treatment of "The Work of the Chariot") to and into 16a-i. (All references are to the ArtScroll pagination.)


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: By making use of the Rabbinically paradigmatic figures of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael in their writings, the generators of the Hekhalot literature, quite arguably, seem to be attempting to show some sort of connection between their writings and the Chariot/Throne study and practice of the Rabbinic Movement in the decades immediately following upon the destruction of the Temple. However, in both the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud the major players in this Chariot/Throne endeavor are, clearly, Rabbi Akiva and Elisha ben Abuyah who is referred to as "Akher". Neither Talmud presents Rabbi Ishmael as a player in merkabah study and practice.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: In the long study on these matters contained in "The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly"" (McGinley, J W; 2006) the hypothesis is offered and defended that "Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha" (more often, simply "Rabbi Ishmael") is in fact a Rabbinically sanctioned cognomen for Elisha ben Abuyah who apostatized from the Rabbinic Movement. The argument is that through this indirection Rabbinic officialdom was able to integrate into the Gemaric give and take of argumentation and analysis the huge body of halakhic and hermeneutical teachings of this great Torah scholar without, however, honoring his equally significant apostasy. To be sure, in the accounting of this figure's mystical study and practice the pejorative (in context) "Akher" is used instead of "Rabbi Ishmael". This is because Elisha ben Abuyah's teachings under the heading of "The Work of the Chariot" came to be considered heretical in contrast to his halakhic and hermeneutical teachings which were generally admired—and whose weighty influence, in any case, could not be ignored. All of this indicates that the generators of the Hekhalot literature were indeed savvy in choosing "Rabbi Ishmael" as paradigmatic in their own writings as a means of relating their own endeavors to the mystical study and practices of the "tannaim" in the early decades following upon the destruction of the Temple.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Both Akiva and the "Ishmaelic Akher" traded upon the "two-thrones"/"two-powers"-in-Heaven motif in their respective merkabah-oriented undertakings. Akiva's version is memorialized in the Babylonian Gemara to tractate "Hagigah" at 14a-ii wherein Akiva puts forth the pairing of God and "David" in a messianic version of that mystical motif. Immediately after this Akivian "solution" to the puzzle of thrones referred to in Song of Songs and the two thrones spoken of in Daniel, Chapter , the text presents Akiva as being pressured—and then acquiescing to—a domesticated version of this twoness theme for the single Jewish God which would be acceptable to Rabbinic officialdom. The text offers Justice ["din"] and Charity ("ts'daqqa") as the "middot" of God which are enthroned in Heaven. (Again, 14a-ii) Akher's non-Messianic and Metatron-oriented version of this "two-thrones"/"two-powers"-in-Heaven motif is discussed at length in the entry "Paradigmatia" of the above-mentioned study. The generic point in all of this is that by the time of the final editing of the Mishna this whole motif (along with other dimensions of merkabah-oriented study and practice) came to be severely discouraged by Rabbinic officialdom. Those who still pursued these kinds of things were marginalized by the Rabbinic Movement over the next several centuries becoming, in effect, a separate grouping responsible for the Hekhalot literature.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: In the "four-entered-"pardes"" section of this portion of the Babylonian Gemara on tractate "Hagigah", it is the figure of Akiva who seems to be lionized. For of the four he is the only one presented who ascended and descended "whole". The other three were broken, one way or another: Ben Azzai dies soon after; Ben Zoma is presented as going insane; and worst of all, "Akher" apostatizes. This putative lionization of Rabbi Akiva occurs at 15b-vi-16a-i of our Gemara section.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Maimonides' philosophical 12th-century work "Guide for the Perplexed" is in part intended as an explanation of the passages "Ma'aseh Bereshit" and "Ma'aseh Merkabah". In the third volume, Maimonides commences the exposition of the mystical passage of the mystic doctrines found in the merkabah passages, while justifying this "crossing of the line" from hints to direct instruction. Maimonides explains basic mystical concepts via the Biblical terms referring to Spheres, elements and Intelligences. In these chapters, however, there is still very little in terms of direct explanation.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Kabbalah relates the Merkabah vision of Ezekiel and the Throne vision of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–8) describing the "seraph" angels, to its comprehensive Four Worlds. The highest World, "Atziluth" ("Emanation"—Divine wisdom), is the realm of absolute Divine manifestation without self-awareness, metaphorically described in the vision as the likeness of a Man on the throne. The throne of sapphire is an etymological root in Kabbalah for the "Sephirot" divine powers. The second World, "Beriah" ("Creation"—Divine understanding), is the first independent root creation, the realm of the Throne, denoting God descending into Creation, as a king limits his true greatness and revealed posture when seated. The World of "Beriah" is the realm of the higher angels, the "Seraphim" ("burning" in ascent and descent as their understanding of God motivates self-annihilation). The third World, "Yetzirah" ("Formation"—Divine emotions), is the realm of archetypal existence, the abode of the main "Hayyot" angels ("alive" with divine emotion). They are described with faces of a lion, ox and eagle, as their emotional nature is instinctive like animals, and they are the archetypal origins of creatures in this World. The lowest World, "Assiah" ("Action"—Divine rulership), is the realm guided by the lower channels of the "Ophanim" (humble "ways" in realised creation).


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The Rabbinic Talmud compares Ezekiel and Isaiah's visions of God's Chariot-Throne, noticing that Ezekiel gives a lengthy account of details, while Isaiah is very brief. It gives an exoteric explanation for this; Isaiah prophesied in the era of Solomon's Temple, Ezekiel's vision took place in the exile of Babylonian captivity. Rava states in the Babylonian Talmud that although Ezekiel describes the appearance of the throne of God, this is not because he had seen more than Isaiah, but rather because the latter was more accustomed to such visions; for the relation of the two prophets is that of a courtier to a peasant, the latter of whom would always describe a royal court more floridly than the former, to whom such things would be familiar. Ezekiel, like all prophets except Moses, has beheld only a blurred reflection of the divine majesty, just as a poor mirror reflects objects only imperfectly.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The Kabbalistic account explains this difference in terms of the Four Worlds. All prophecy emanates from the divine "chokhmah" (wisdom) realm of "Atziluth". However, in order to be perceived it descends to be enclothed in vessels of lower Worlds. Isaiah's prophecy saw the merkabah in the World of "Beriah" divine understanding, restraining his explanation by realising the inadequacy of description. Ezekiel saw the merkabah in the lower World of "Yetzirah" divine emotions, causing him to describe the vision in rapturous detail.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: According to the Kabbalistic explanation, the "Seraphim" ("burning" angels) in "Beriah" (divine understanding) realise their distance from the absolute divinity of "Atziluth". Their call, "Holy", repeated three times, means removed or separated. This causes their "burning up" continual self-nullification, ascending to God and returning to their place. Their understanding realises instead that God's true purpose (glory) for creation is with lowly man. The lower "Hayyot" ("living" angels) in "Yetzirah" (divine emotions) say, "Blessed [etymologically in Kabbalah "drawing down" blessing] be the glory ... from His [distant-unknown to them] place" of "Atziluth". Though lower than the "Seraphim", their emotional self-awareness has a superior advantage of powerful desire. This causes them to be able to draw down divine vitality from a higher source, the supreme realm of "Atziluth", to lower creation and man. In Ezekiel's vision, the "Hayyot" have a central role in the merkabah's channeling of the divine flow in creation.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Hasidic thought explains Kabbalah in terms of human psychology. Through this, the merkabah is a multi-layered analogy that offers insight into the nature of man, the ecosystem, the world, and teaches self-refinement.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The four "Hayyot" angels represent the basic archetypes that God used to create the current nature of the world. "Ophanim", which means "ways", are the ways these archetypes combine to create actual entities that exist in the world. For instance, in the basic elements of the world, the lion represents fire, the ox/earth, the man/water, and the eagle/air. However, in practice, everything in the world is some combination of all four, and the particular combination of each element that exist in each thing are its particular "Ophanim" or ways.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: The 'man on the throne' in the vision of Ezekiel descriptively represents God, who is controlling everything that goes on in the world, and how all of the archetypes He set up should interact. The 'man on the throne', however, drives when the four angels connect their wings. This means that God will not be revealed to us by us looking at all four elements (for instance) as separate and independent entities. However, when one looks at the way that earth, wind, fire and water (for instance) which all oppose each other are able to work together and coexist in complete harmony in the world, this shows that there is really a higher power (God) telling these elements how to act.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: This very lesson carries over to explain how the four basic groups of animals and the four basic archetypal philosophies and personalities reveal a higher, Godly source when one is able to read between the lines and see how these opposing forces can and do interact in harmony. A person should strive to be like a Merkaba, that is to say, he should realize all the different qualities, talents and inclinations he has (his angels). They may seem to contradict, but when one directs his life to a higher goal such as doing God's will he (the man on the chair driving the chariot) will see how they all can work together and even complement each other. Ultimately, we should strive to realize how all of the forces in the world, though they may seem to conflict, can unite when one knows how to use them all to fulfill a higher purpose; namely to serve God.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: According to Timo Eskola, early Christian theology and discourse was influenced by the Jewish merkabah tradition. Similarly, Alan Segal and Daniel Boyarin regard Paul the Apostle's accounts of his conversion experience and his ascent to the heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2–4) as the earliest first person accounts we have of a merkabah mystic in Jewish or Christian literature. Timothy Churchill has argued that Paul's Damascus road encounter (e.g., Acts 9:1–9) does not fit the pattern of merkabah, but this experience is not described in Paul's letters, and Acts does not claim to be a first-person account.


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: In Christianity, the man, lion, ox, and eagle are used as symbols for the four evangelists (or gospel-writers), and appear frequently in church decorations. These Creatures are called Zoë (or the Tetramorph), and surround the throne of God in Heaven, along with twenty-four elders and seven spirits of God (according to Revelation 4:1–11).


title: Merkabah mysticism

text: Warnings against children or "excitable persons" reading the Ezekiel story exist in some translations.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri Devi Mukherji (born Maximiani Julia Portas, ; 30 September 1905 – 22 October 1982) was a French-born Greek fascist, Nazi sympathizer, and spy who served the Axis powers by committing acts of espionage against the Allied forces in India. She was later a leading member of the Neo-Nazi underground during the 1960s.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri was a proponent of a synthesis of Hinduism and Nazism, proclaiming Adolf Hitler to have been an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She depicted Hitler as a sacrifice for humanity that would lead to the end of the worst World Age, the Kali Yuga, which she believed was induced by the Jews, whom she saw as the powers of evil.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Her writings have influenced neo-Nazism and Nazi occultism. Rejecting Judaism and Christianity, she believed in a form of pantheistic monism; a single cosmos of nature composed of divine energy-matter. Within neo-Nazism, she promoted occultism, ecology, and the New Age movement, and more contemporaneously, she has influenced the alt-right. She also influenced the Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano. In 1982, Franco Freda published a German translation of her work "Gold in the Furnace", and the fourth volume of his annual review, "Risguardo" (1980–), was devoted to Savitri Devi as the "missionary of Aryan Paganism".


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri was an associate in the post-war years of Françoise Dior, Otto Skorzeny, Johann von Leers, and Hans-Ulrich Rudel. She was also one of the founding members of the World Union of National Socialists.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Born as Maximiani Julia Portas in 1905 in Lyon, Savitri Devi was the daughter of Maxim Portas, a French citizen of Greek descent and an English woman of Italian descent, Julia Portas (née Nash). Maximine Portas was born two and a half months premature, weighing only , and was not at first expected to live. She formed her political views early. From childhood and throughout her life, she was a passionate advocate for animal rights. Her earliest political affiliations were with Greek nationalism.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Portas studied philosophy and chemistry, earning two master's degrees and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Lyon. She next traveled to Greece, and surveyed the legendary ruins. Here, she became familiar with Heinrich Schliemann's discovery of swastikas in Anatolia. Her conclusion was that the Ancient Greeks were Aryan in origin. Her first two books were her doctoral dissertations: "Essai-critique sur Théophile Kaïris" ("Critical Essay on Theophilos Kairis") (Lyon: Maximine Portas, 1935) and "La simplicité mathématique" ("Mathematical Simplicity") (Lyon: Maximine Portas, 1935).


title: Savitri Devi

text: In early 1928, she renounced her French citizenship and acquired Greek nationality. Joining a pilgrimage to Palestine during Lent in 1929, Portas decided that she was a Nazi.


title: Savitri Devi

text: In 1932, she traveled to India in search of a living pagan Aryan culture, believing that the country represented "the best of racial segregation." Formally adhering to Hinduism, she took the name Savitri Devi (Hindi: सावित्री देवी; which means "Sun-rays Goddess" in Sanskrit). She volunteered to work at the Hindu Mission as an advocate against Judaism and Christianity, and wrote "A Warning to the Hindus" in order to offer her support for Hindu nationalism and independence, and rally resistance to the spread of Christianity and Islam in India. During the 1930s, she distributed pro-Axis propaganda and engaged in intelligence gathering on the British in India. She claimed that, during World War II, she enabled Subhas Chandra Bose (the leader of the Axis-affiliated Indian National Army) to contact representatives of the Empire of Japan.


title: Savitri Devi

text: During World War II, Devi's connection to the Axis powers led to a clash with her mother, who served with the French Resistance during the German occupation of France. In 1940, Devi married Asit Krishna Mukherji, a Bengali Brahmin with Nazi views who edited the pro-German newspaper "New Mercury". During 1941, Devi chose to interpret Allied military support for Greece, against Italian and German forces, as an invasion of Greece. Devi and Mukherji continued to gather intelligence for the Axis cause. This included entertaining Allied personnel, which gave Devi and Mukherji an opportunity to question them about military matters. The information which they gathered was passed on to Japanese intelligence officials and the Japanese military found it useful when they launched attacks against Allied airbases and army units.


title: Savitri Devi

text: After World War II, she travelled to Europe in late 1945 under the name Savitri Devi Mukherji as the wife of a British subject from India, with a British Indian passport. She briefly stopped in England, then she visited her mother in France, and then she traveled to Iceland, where she witnessed the eruption of Mount Hekla on 5–6 April 1947. She briefly returned to England, then she traveled to Sweden, where she met Sven Hedin.


title: Savitri Devi

text: On 15 June 1948, she boarded the Nord-Express and traveled from Denmark to Germany, where she distributed thousands of copies of handwritten leaflets in which she encouraged the "Men and women of Germany" to "hold fast to our glorious National Socialist faith, and resist!" She recounted her experience in "Gold in the Furnace" (which was re-edited and released as "Gold in the Furnace: Experiences in Post-War Germany" to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of her birth).


title: Savitri Devi

text: Arrested for posting bills, she was tried in Düsseldorf on 5 April 1949 for the promotion of Nazi ideas on German territory as a subject of the Allied Control Council, and sentenced to two years imprisonment. She served eight months in Werl Prison, where she befriended her fellow Nazi and SS prisoners (recounted in "Defiance"), before she was released and expelled from Germany. She then went to stay in Lyon, France.


title: Savitri Devi

text: In April 1953, she obtained a Greek passport in her maiden name in order to re-enter Germany, and while she was there, she went on a pilgrimage, as she called it, to Nazi "holy" sites. She flew from Athens to Rome and then she traveled by rail over the Brenner Pass into "Greater Germany", which she regarded as "the spiritual home of all racially conscious modern Aryans". She traveled to a number of sites which were significant in the life of Adolf Hitler and the history of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), as well as German nationalist and heathen monuments, as recounted in her 1958 book "Pilgrimage".


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri Devi became a friend of Hans-Ulrich Rudel, and she completed her manuscript of "The Lightning and the Sun" at his home in March 1956. Through his introductions, she was able to meet a number of Nazi émigrés in Spain and the Middle East. In 1957, she visited Johann von Leers in Egypt and traveled across the Middle East before she returned to her home in New Delhi, making stops in Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran, and Zahedan. In 1961 she stayed with Otto Skorzeny in Madrid.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri Devi took employment teaching in France during the 1960s, spending her summer holidays with friends at Berchtesgaden. In the spring of 1961, while she was on her Easter holiday in London, she learned about the existence of the original British National Party. This group emerged after the Second World War when a handful of former members of the British Union of Fascists took on the name. (The original BNP was quickly absorbed into the Union Movement – it has no direct connection to the present-day BNP.) She met the British National Party's president Andrew Fountaine. Beginning a correspondence with Colin Jordan, she became a devoted supporter of the National Socialist Movement.


title: Savitri Devi

text: In August 1962, Savitri Devi attended the international Nazi conference in Gloucestershire and she was also a founder-signatory of the Cotswold Agreement which established the World Union of National Socialists (WUNS). At this conference she met, and was greatly impressed by, George Lincoln Rockwell. When Rockwell became the leader of the WUNS, he appointed William Luther Pierce the editor of its new magazine: "National Socialist World" (1966–68). Along with articles by Jordan and Rockwell, Pierce devoted nearly eighty pages of the first issue of the magazine to a condensed edition of "The Lightning and the Sun". Because of the enthusiastic response, Pierce included chapters from "Gold in the Furnace" and "Defiance" in subsequent issues.


title: Savitri Devi

text: After retiring from teaching in 1970, Savitri Devi spent nine months at the Normandy home of her close friend Françoise Dior while she was working on her memoirs; although she was welcome at first, her annoying personal habits began to disrupt life at the presbytery (among her habits, she did not take baths during her stay and she continually chewed garlic). Concluding that her pension would go much further in India and encouraged by Françoise Dior, she flew from Paris to Bombay on 23 June 1971. In August, she moved to New Delhi, where she lived alone, with a number of cats and at least one cobra.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri Devi continued to correspond with Nazi enthusiasts in Europe and the Americas, particularly with Colin Jordan, John Tyndall, Matt Koehl, Miguel Serrano, Einar Åberg and Ernst Zündel. She was the first person to tell Zündel that the Nazi genocide of the Jews was untrue; he proposed a series of taped interviews (conducted in November 1978) and published a new illustrated edition of "The Lightning and the Sun" in 1979.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Devi was an animal rights activist, as well as a vegetarian from a young age, and she also espoused ecologist views in her works. She wrote "The Impeachment of Man" in 1959 in India in which she espoused her views on animal rights and nature. According to her, human beings do not stand above the animals; in her ecologist views, humans are a part of the ecosystem and as a result, they should respect all life, including animals and the whole of nature.


title: Savitri Devi

text: She always held radical views with regard to vegetarianism and believed that people who do not "respect nature or animals" should be executed. She also believed that vivisection, circuses, slaughter and fur industries among others do not belong in a civilized society.


title: Savitri Devi

text: By the late 1970s, she had developed cataracts and her eyesight was rapidly deteriorating as a result. Myriam Hirn, a clerk from the French embassy in India, looked after her, making regular house visits. She decided to leave India, returning to Germany to live in Bavaria in 1981 before re-moving to France in 1982.


title: Savitri Devi

text: Savitri eventually died in 1982 in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England, at a friend's home. The cause of her death was recorded as a heart attack and coronary thrombosis. She was "en route" to lecture in the United States at the invitation of Matthias Koehl at the time of her death. Devi's ashes were shipped to the headquarters of the American Nazi Party in Arlington, Virginia, where they were purportedly placed next to those of George Lincoln Rockwell in a "Nazi hall of honor".


title: WebOS

text: webOS, also known as LG webOS and previously known as Open webOS, HP webOS and Palm webOS, is a Linux kernel-based multitasking operating system for smart devices such as smart TVs that has also been used as a mobile operating system. Initially developed by Palm, Inc. (which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard), HP made the platform open source, at which point it became "Open webOS."


title: WebOS

text: The operating system was later sold to LG Electronics, and was made primarily a smart TV operating system for LG televisions as a successor to LG Netcast. In January 2014, Qualcomm announced that it had acquired technology patents from HP, which included all the webOS and Palm patents; LG licenses them to use in their devices.


title: WebOS

text: Various versions of webOS have been featured on several devices since launching in 2009, including Pre, Pixi, and Veer smartphones, TouchPad tablet, LG's smart TVs since 2014, LG's smart refrigerators and smart projectors since 2017.


title: WebOS

text: Palm launched webOS, then called Palm webOS, in January 2009 as the successor to Palm OS. The first webOS device was the original Palm Pre, released by Sprint in June 2009. The Palm Pixi followed. Upgraded "Plus" versions of both Pre and Pixi were released on Verizon and AT&T.


title: WebOS

text: In April 2010, HP acquired Palm. The acquisition of Palm was initiated while Mark Hurd was CEO, however he resigned shortly after the acquisition was completed. Later, webOS was described by new HP CEO Leo Apotheker as a key asset and motivation for the purchase. The $1.2 billion acquisition finalized in June. HP indicated its intention to develop the webOS platform for use in multiple new products, including smartphones, tablets, and printers.


title: WebOS

text: In February 2011, HP announced that it would use webOS as the universal platform for all its devices. However, HP also made the decision that the Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, and the "Plus" revisions would not receive over-the-air updates to webOS 2.0, despite a previous commitment to an upgrade "in coming months." HP announced several webOS devices, including the HP Veer and HP Pre 3 smartphones, running webOS 2.2, and the HP TouchPad, a tablet computer released in July 2011 that runs webOS 3.0.


title: WebOS

text: In March 2011, HP announced plans for a version of webOS by the end of 2011 to run within Windows, and to be installed on all HP desktop and notebook computers in 2012. Neither ever materialized, although work had begun on an x86 port around this time involving a team in Fort Collins, Colorado; work was scrapped later in the year.


title: WebOS

text: In August 2011, HP announced that it was interested in selling its Personal Systems Group, responsible for all of its consumer PC products, including webOS, and that webOS device development and production lines would be halted. It remained unclear whether HP would consider licensing webOS software to other manufacturers. When HP reduced the price of the Touchpad to $99, the existing inventory quickly sold out.


title: WebOS

text: The HP Pre 3 was launched in select areas of Europe, and US-based units were available only through unofficial channels (both AT&T and Verizon canceled their orders just prior to delivery after Apotheker's (HP's CEO at the time) announcement. Notably, these US Pre 3 units, having been released through unofficial channels, lacked both warranties and carried no support obligation from HP; as a result parts are nearly impossible to come by. HP announced that it would continue to issue updates for the HP Veer and HP TouchPad, but these updates have failed to materialize for the former, and the latter saw a final, unofficial release called "webOS CE" that contained only open-sourced components of webOS meant for what remained of the developer community rather than a conventional, user-centric update to the operating system. The last HP webOS version, 3.0.5, was released on January 12, 2012.


title: WebOS

text: In December 2011, after abandoning the TouchPad and the proposed sale of the HP Personal Systems Group, HP announced it would release webOS source code in the near future under an open-source license. In August 2012, code specific to the existing devices was released as "webOS Community Edition" (CE), with support for the existing HP hardware. Open webOS includes open source libraries designed to target a wider range of hardware. HP renamed its webOS unit as "Gram".


title: WebOS

text: On June 6, 2009, webOS launched on the Palm Pre with 18 available apps. The number of apps grew to 30 by June 17, 2009, with 1 million cumulative downloads by June 27, 2009; 30 official and 31 unofficial apps by July 13, 2009; 1,000 official apps by January 1, 2010; 4,000 official apps September 29, 2010; and 10,002 official apps on December 9, 2011.


title: WebOS

text: Subsequently, the number of available apps decreased because many apps were withdrawn from the App Catalog by their owners. Examples include the apps for "The New York Times" and Pandora Radio. After a Catalog splash screen on November 11, 2014 announcing its deprecation, the HP App Catalog servers were permanently shut down on March 15, 2015. The number of functional apps remaining at that time is unknown but was probably much lower due to the imminent abandonment of the project.


title: WebOS

text: On February 25, 2013, HP announced that it was selling webOS to LG Electronics for use on its web-enabled smart TVs, replacing its previous NetCast platform. Under the agreement LG Electronics owns the documentation, source code, developers and all related websites. However, HP would still hold on to patents from Palm as well as cloud-based services such as the App Catalog. In 2014, HP sold its webOS patents to Qualcomm.


title: WebOS

text: As well as its use as an OS for smart TVs, LG has expanded its use to various Internet of things devices. As a starting point, LG showcased a LG Wearable Platform OS (webOS) smartwatch in early 2015.


title: WebOS

text: On March 19, 2018, LG announced an open-source edition of webOS. This edition would allow developers to download the source code for free as well as take advantage of related tools, guides, and forums on its new open source website to become more familiar with webOS and its inherent benefits as a smart device's platform. LG hopes that this will help its goal of advancing its philosophy of open platform, open partnership and open connectivity.


title: WebOS

text: The webOS mobile platform introduced some innovative features, such as the cards interface or the gesture navigation, that are still in use by Apple, Microsoft and Google on their mobile operating systems iOS, Windows Phone, and Android, respectively.


title: WebOS

text: Navigation uses multi-touch gestures on the touchscreen. The interface uses "cards" to manage multitasking and represent apps. The user switches between running apps with a flick from left and right on the screen. Apps are closed by flicking a "card" up—and "off"—the screen. The app "cards" can be rearranged for organization. webOS 2.0 introduced 'stacks', where related cards could be "stacked" together.


title: WebOS

text: Palm referred to integration of information from many sources as "Synergy." Users can sign into multiple email accounts from different providers and integrate all of these sources into a single list. Similar capabilities pull together calendars and also instant messages and SMS text messages from multiple sources.


title: WebOS

text: The OS can be updated without docking to a PC, instead receiving OS updates over the carrier connection.


title: WebOS

text: The notification area is located on the bottom portion of the screen on phones, and on the top status bar area on tablets.


title: WebOS

text: On phones, when a notification comes in, it slides in from the bottom of the screen. Due to the resizable nature of the Mojo and Enyo application frameworks, the app usually resizes itself to allow unhindered use while the notification is displayed. After the notification slides away, it usually remains as an icon. The user can then tap on the icons to expand them. Notifications can then be dismissed (sliding off the screen), acted upon (tapping), or left alone.


title: WebOS

text: By default, data sync uses a cloud-based approach rather than using a desktop sync client. The first version of webOS shipped with the ability to sync with Apple's iTunes software by masquerading as an Apple device, but this feature was disabled by subsequent iTunes software updates.


title: WebOS

text: On HP webOS, officially vetted third-party apps are accessible to be installed on the device from the HP App Catalog.


title: WebOS

text: As HP webOS replaced Palm OS, Palm commissioned MotionApps to code and develop an emulator called Classic, to enable backward compatibility to Palm OS apps. This operates with webOS version 1.0. Palm OS emulation was discontinued in WebOS version 2.0. MotionApps disengaged from Classic in 2010, citing HP Palm as "disruptive."


title: WebOS

text: Another source of applications is homebrew software. Homebrew apps are not directly supported by HP. Programs used to distribute homebrew webOS apps include webOS Quick Install (Java-based sideloader for desktop computers) and Preware (a homebrew webOS app catalog, which must be sideloaded). If software problems do occur after installing homebrew programs, "webOS Doctor" (provided by HP) can restore a phone back to factory settings and remove changes made by homebrew apps and patches.


title: WebOS

text: Developer mode allows for developer access of the device, and is also used for digital forensic investigations. It can be accessed by typing "webos20090606" on the device’s keyboard, or on some devices typing "upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart" (a reference to the Konami code) on the cards view. Once in developer mode, data on the system partition can be accessed freely, even if the device was locked.


title: WebOS

text: LG has redesigned the UI of webOS, maintaining the card UI as a feature called "Simple switching" between open TV apps. The other two features promoted by the company are a simple connection (using an animated Clippy-like character called Beanbird to aid the user through setup), and simple discovery.


title: WebOS

text: Underneath the graphical user interface, webOS has much in common with mainstream Linux distributions. Versions 1.0 to 2.1 use a patched Linux 2.6.24 kernel.


title: WebOS

text: The list of open-source components used by the different releases of webOS, as well as the source code of and patches applied to each component, is available at the Palm Open Source webpage. This page also serves as a reference listing of the versions of webOS that have been publicly released.


title: Weinstein effect

text: The Weinstein effect is a global trend in which allegations of sexual misconduct by famous or powerful men are disclosed. The first of a worldwide wave of allegations were made in the United States in October 2017, when media outlets reported on the sexual abuse allegations made against film producer Harvey Weinstein. The allegations were described as a "tipping point" or "watershed moment" and precipitated a "national reckoning" against sexual harassment.


title: Weinstein effect

text: The effect gave rise to the #MeToo movement, which encourages people to share their experiences of sexual harassment and assault, and the two events triggered a cascade of allegations that brought about the swift removal of many men in positions of power in the United States, holding men accountable for their actions across the globe. In the entertainment industry, allegations led to the dismissal of actors and directors alike.


title: Weinstein effect

text: In July 2016, Fox News television host Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against the station's chairman Roger Ailes, which led to his removal and encouraged journalists to pursue rumors about the conduct of Weinstein and political commentator Bill O'Reilly. Similar revelations and a lawsuit led to O'Reilly being fired in April 2017. Both Ailes and O'Reilly denied wrongdoing. Ailes died in May 2017.


title: Weinstein effect

text: On October 5, 2017, "The New York Times" broke the first reports of decades of sexual misconduct claims against film producer Harvey Weinstein. On October 10, 2017, journalist Ronan Farrow reported further allegations Weinstein had sexually assaulted or harassed thirteen women, and raped three.


title: Weinstein effect

text: Weinstein was immediately dismissed from The Weinstein Company. Weinstein had suppressed these cases through confidential financial settlements and nondisclosure agreements, as was common for celebrity sexual harassment cases, before journalists aired the story. Over eighty accusers came forward against Weinstein, including many well-known actresses.


title: Weinstein effect

text: Jim Rutenberg of "The New York Times" said the Weinstein scandal precipitated a "national reckoning" against sexual harassment and assault in the United States, which became known as the Weinstein effect. "USA Today" wrote that 2017 was the year in which "sexual misconduct became a fireable offense".