title: Hung Up

text: "Hung Up" was a worldwide commercial success, peaking at number one in charts of 41 countries and earning a place in the "2007 Guinness Book of World Records", as the song topping the charts in most countries. The song has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. In the United States, "Hung Up" debuted at twenty on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on the issue dated November 5, 2005. It became her highest opening position since "Ray of Light" entered the chart at five in 1998. The same week the song entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at number six and became the highest debuting single of the week on the Pop 100 Airplay, where it debuted at number 38. On the issue dated December 3, 2005, the song reached a peak of number seven on the "Billboard" Hot 100, jumping from number 14 from previous week. The song became the chart's greatest digital gainer for that week and claimed the top position on the Hot Digital Songs chart. It also tied Madonna with Elvis Presley for 36 top ten entries, which was subsequently broken by Madonna's 2008 song "4 Minutes", which peaked at number three on the Hot 100. "Hung Up" debuted at numbers 25 and 10 on the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts respectively ultimately reaching the top of both. It became the most successful dance song of the 2000s in the United States, by topping the Dance/Club Play Songs Decade-end tally. The song also reached a peak of seven on the Pop 100 chart. In 2008, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling at least a million copies in paid digital downloads. As of December 2016, the song has sold 1.4 million digital units in the United States.


title: Hung Up

text: "Hung Up" became the fastest rising single on radio in Canada, according to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. On the second week itself, the song reached the top of the Contemporary Hit Radio chart of Canada, while reaching the top five of the Adult Contemporary and Canadian Airplay charts. Paul Tuch from Nielsen clarified that "Hung Up" achieved this feat within 10 days only. Consequently, "Hung Up" also peaked atop the Canadian Singles Chart for 15 non-consecutive weeks, and was certified double platinum by Music Canada for sales of 40,000 copies. In Australia, the song debuted atop the ARIA Singles Chart on November 20, 2005, breaking her tie with Kylie Minogue as the female artist with most number-one singles in Australian chart history. It was present within the top 50 of the chart for 23 weeks. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 70,000 copies. "Hung Up" debuted at number 67 in the French singles chart and jumped to the top next week, remaining there for five non-consecutive weeks. It received a gold certification from Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for sales of 150,000 copies. "Hung Up" reached a peak position of number two in New Zealand.


title: Hung Up

text: In the United Kingdom, "Hung Up" debuted at number one on the issue dated November 13, 2005, thus giving Madonna her 11th number one single on this chart. It sold 105,619 copies becoming the first single to sell more than 100,000 copies in a week since Crazy Frog's "Axel F" did it 23 weeks earlier. The first week sales of "Hung Up" were a little lower than Madonna's last UK number one, "Music" (2000), which opened with 114,925 sales, but exceeded her last single "Love Profusion", which debuted at number 11 with 15,361 sales in December 2003. The next week the single had a decline in sales of 43% to 59,969 copies, but remained on the top as "Confessions on a Dance Floor" debuted atop the UK Albums Chart. It remained at the top position for three weeks and a total of 40 weeks on the Singles Chart. According to the Official Charts Company, by the end of 2005, "Hung Up" was Madonna's biggest selling single with 339,285 copies since "Music" sold 390,624 copies in 2000. It was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and has sold over 730,000 copies in the UK to date. By November 2021, "Hung Up" became her second-most streamed track in the UK, and accumulated sales of 899,000 units including streaming figures according to the Official Charts Company. In Ireland, the song debuted at number two on the chart dated November 10, 2005 becoming the highest debut of the week. The song also topped "Billboard"s European Hot 100 Singles chart where it soared from 73 to the top of the chart on the issue dated November 21, 2005. The song was able to peak the charts in almost all the European nations including Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.


title: Hung Up

text: The music video for "Hung Up" was directed by Johan Renck and filmed in October 2005. Madonna's scenes were filmed in London from October 8–11, with Pineapple Dance Studios being used for the dance studio scenes and the Trocadero being used for the games arcade scenes. Though some scenes in the video feature cities like London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Tokyo, in reality the actual sets were constructed in Los Angeles and London only. A London suburb was made to look like a Parisian one, where the routine for Parkour takes place, whereas a restaurant in London's Chinatown was used for the Shanghai sequence and Compton stood in for the Bronx. Originally the video for "Hung Up" was to be directed by photographer David LaChapelle. He wanted the video to have a "documentary"-style look, much like that of his 2005 film, "Rize", in which five of the dancers from the "Hung Up" video appeared. LaChapelle and Madonna disagreed on the concept, prompting the project to be reassigned to Renck, who worked with Madonna in her video for "Nothing Really Matters". According to an interview with MTV, Renck was directing Kate Moss for a H&M commercial when he received a phone call from Madonna who desperately wanted to work with him. The next day he went to Los Angeles to meet the stylist and the choreographer hired by Madonna, who e-mailed him with her ideas for the video. The director explained that he "kind of liked that we didn't have time to over-think this and be too clever, I like being out on a limb and not know what we're doing and why. Just deal with it, the mayhem, you know?"


title: Hung Up

text: Madonna wanted to use a few performers from her tour, such as Daniel "Cloud" Campos, Miss Prissy from LaChapelle's "Rize" crew and traceur Sebastien Foucan, a practitioner of Parkour, a philosophical French sport. Renck said that "It's not about the music, but the bodily expression, [...] We wanted to show the whole spectrum, be it krumping, breakdancing, jazz or disco." Since they could not shoot all over the world, Madonna wanted the video to have an "omnipresent feel", with the middle section of the song generating a sense of congregation. Renck suggested that they include a boombox, used as a means of uniting everyone and everything since it was through listening to songs on a boombox that street dancing started.


title: Hung Up

text: Madonna clarified that the video was a tribute to John Travolta and to dance in general. Her dance moves for the video, which were inspired by Travolta's movies like "Saturday Night Fever" (1977), "Grease" (1978) and "Perfect" (1985) took three hours to shoot. Madonna had broken eight bones in a horseback-riding accident a few weeks before shooting the video and faced difficulty doing the steps devised by choreographer Jamie King. Renck said,


title: Hung Up

text: "She was such a trooper, [...] She just fell off a horse! [Madonna said] 'If you were a real dance choreographer, you could tell I can't lift my left arm higher than this' — and it was like, what, a 20-centimeter difference? [...] But when she said it 'hurts like f---,' she'd take a break and sit down for two minutes. [Madonna]'I have broken ribs, remember that!' I just can't imagine dancing like that. Talk about priorities."


title: Hung Up

text: Madonna was also associated with the editing process of the video. She was Renck's editing supervisor. Madonna wanted a raw documentary look for the video which allowed her to be portrayed more realistically. Regarding the making of "Hung Up", Renck said that it was a massive work to undertake, "It's like you form this little family that's flourished and prospered for the month, and then you chop it down like a tree, [...] You come out with a sense of yearning and longing, like, 'Can we just do that again? Please?'"


title: Hung Up

text: The video starts with Madonna entering and turning the lights on in a ballet studio carrying a boombox. She presses the play button on the boombox as the clock ticking sound of the music starts. Wearing a pink leotard, Madonna starts gyrating to the music while doing warm up exercises. The scene interchanges with a group of people on a rooftop who start dancing to the music while listening to a similar boombox. They also display aspects of the physical discipline Parkour, while climbing over buildings and jumping from staircases. As the song starts, Madonna dances to the music in the ballet studio. The second verse shows her continuing dancing while the people from the street take their boombox and board a taxi. Scenes are interspersed with people dancing in a Chinese restaurant and Parisian streets. In the meantime, Madonna finishes her dances in the ballet studio, drops her towel, changes her clothes and comes out on the street. The people in the taxi, exit the cab and take the Underground instead. After another round of dancing in the train, the intermediate music starts. Madonna is shown hugging, dancing, and conversing with choreographers on a deserted alleyway and riding on a boombox. As the song starts again, Madonna and the people from the street, who act as her background dancers, all dance on a "Dance Dance Revolution" machine in a gaming parlor. The video ends showing Madonna lying on the ballet studio floor. The video was nominated for five awards at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards including Best Female Video, Dance Video, Pop Video, Best Choreography and the Video of the Year award although it did not win any of them. In 2009, the video was included on Madonna's compilation, "".


title: Hung Up

text: On November 4, 2005, Madonna opened the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards at the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon, Portugal with her first performance of "Hung Up". She emerged from a glitterball to perform the song while wearing a purple leotard and matching leather boots. During next days, Madonna performed "Hung Up" on TV shows such as "Wetten, dass..?" in Germany, "Parkinson" in England and "Star Academy" in France, as well as on the Children in Need 2005 telethon in London. She opened her concerts at Koko and G-A-Y nightclubs in London with "Hung Up", respectively on November 15 and 19. In December Madonna travelled to Tokyo, Japan, where "Hung Up" was performed on TV show "SMAP×SMAP" and her concert at Studio Coast. On February 8, 2006, Madonna opened the 48th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She sang the song by pairing up with the fictional animated band Gorillaz. The band appeared on the stage via a three dimensional technique which projected their holograms on the stage. They performed their song "Feel Good Inc." while rappers De La Soul made a guest appearance. Madonna then appeared on the stage and started performing the song while interchanging places with the hologram figures of the band. She was later joined by her own group of dancers and the performance was finished on the main stage rather than the virtual screen. Another performance of "Hung Up" came on April 30, 2006, during the


title: Hung Up

text: The song was performed as the last song of her 2006 Confessions Tour. It was performed at the last "disco fever" segment of the tour. During the performance, her dancers displayed the Parkour routine all over the stadium as the familiar ABBA sample played. Madonna changed her aerobics costume for a purple leotard. As the music progressed, she and her dancers appeared on the center stage and she started singing. During the second verse, she left her sunglasses and jacket and proceeded towards the front of the stage. A boombox appeared in the center with Madonna playing with it. The song starts again as balloons fall on the crowd from the top. The finale had Madonna engaging the audience to sing-along with her to the song while making a contest as to which side of the stadium can sing the loudest. Madonna then uttering the line "I'm tired of waiting for you" while the backdrop showed the phrase "Have You Confessed?". "The New York Times" Ginia Belafonte compared this performance with that of Ethel Merman. "Slant Magazine" commented that the performance reminded Madonna's ability to encapsulate the audience as a part of her performance. On July 7, 2007, Madonna closed her set during the Live Earth concert at the Wembley Stadium in London with "Hung Up".


title: Hung Up

text: The song was also added to the six song set list of the Hard Candy Promo Tour in 2008. Madonna wore a shiny black outfit with black tails, Adidas track pants and high-heeled, lace-up boots. "Hung Up" was the fourth song of the set list. It was re-invented as a heavy-metal version. As the performance of "4 Minutes" ended, Madonna picked up an electric guitar and played the first few chords of The Rolling Stones single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". She then asked the crowd whether they thought they had come to a Rolling Stones concert. When the crowd responded negatively, she started "Hung Up", while dedicating it to all the people who had waited outside in the queue to watch the show. She declared that the noisy, metallic guitar breakdown of the song symbolised what waiting sounded like in the brain of all those who had waited. The song was performed in the futuristic rave with Japanese influences segment of the 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour. Madonna wore a futuristic robotic outfit designed by Heatherette, with plates on her shoulder and a wig with long curled hair. The similar heavy-metal version of "Hung Up" was performed but it later gave way to the ABBA music. Before starting the performance, she played a capella versions of her older songs on audience demand, mostly "Express Yourself" and "Like a Virgin". However, after that, the electric guitar was played to make noises, which Madonna dedicated to Republican vice-presidential nominee for the 2008 election, Sarah Palin. She said, "I'd like to express myself to Sarah Palin right now. [Playing a screeching note on her guitar] This is the sound of Sarah Palin thinking. [...] Sarah Palin can't come to my party. Sarah Palin can't come to my show. It's nothing personal." The performance ended with Madonna playing the guitar riff of "A New Level" by heavy-metal band Pantera. For the second European leg of the tour in 2009, "Hung Up" was removed from the setlist and was replaced by an up-beat version of "Frozen".


title: Hung Up

text: For The MDNA Tour of 2012, "Hung Up" was added to the setlist as part of the opening segment, known as "Transgression". After performing a fragment of "Papa Don't Preach", several dancers wearing tribal masks, surrounded Madonna, tied her up and proceeded to carry her to the center of the main stage just as the song's opening riffs, underpinned by the dramatic sound of church bells with vocoder vocals, started to play in the background. Dressed in a black skintight outfit with an ample cleavage, gloves of the same color and heeled boots, Madonna and her dancers performed the song while at the same time slacklining on some ropes held on the middle of the stage. As Madonna sang the song, her dancers slid under the ropes. This performance received generally mixed reviews, Jon Pareles from "The New York Times" believed that changing the composition of the song in lieu of the theme for the segment made it "ominous and obsessive", while making it "a memory of distant innocence". Jim Farber from the "Daily News" felt that the introduction of slacklining gave the whole tour "some needed bounce". Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was negative on his review of the performance, as he felt it was out of place on the show's segment, and compared it negatively to the performance of the Sticky & Sweet Tour, concluding that the song "should never be performed in any way other than its original form." The performance of the song at the November 19–20, 2012 shows in Miami, at the American Airlines Arena, were recorded and released in Madonna's fourth live album, "MDNA World Tour".


title: Hung Up

text: On April 13, 2015, Madonna made a surprise appearance at the Coachella Festival and performed a medley of her 1994 song "Human Nature" and "Hung Up" during Drake's act, sporting thigh-high boots and a tank top that read "Big as Madonna". She then went on to kiss Drake, whose shocked expression went viral on the Internet. The rapper then revealed that he actually enjoyed the kiss, posting a picture of the moment to his Instagram account which read: "Don’t misinterpret my shock!! I got to make out with the queen Madonna and I feel 100 about that forever". The singer also performed an a cappella version of the song on her Rebel Heart Tour in Hong Kong on 17 February 2016.


title: Hung Up

text: On June 24, 2021, the singer made a surprise appearance at a pride party at the Boom Boom Room of New York's The Standard hotel and performed the song on top of the lounge's bar; she wore a see-through mesh top, leather shorts, a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier corset, a blue wig and long pink fingerless gloves. In June 2022, to accompany the remix album release, "", Madonna performed at Pride at the Women of the World Party in New York City. She performed a dembow, house-infused remix of "Hung Up", sharing a French kiss with Tokischa, in a similar fashion to her kiss with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: Hung Up

text: In 2022, Madonna recorded a dembow remix of "Hung Up" with Dominican rapper Tokischa, newly titled "Hung Up on Tokischa". It features samples of Madonna's vocals from the original version in addition to new Spanish language verses written by Tokischa. It was released by Warner Records for digital download and streaming on September 16, 2022. Madonna and Tokischa first performed the song in June 2022 at Terminal 5 during the New York City Pride.


title: Hung Up

text: The song's accompanying music video was directed by Sasha Kasiuha and filmed in Washington Heights in New York City in early September 2022. It premiered on YouTube on September 20, 2022. The video portrays Madonna and Tokischa caressing each other in suggestive positions and "perreando" between an altar. Rachel Kiley from Pride.com described it as a "raunchy romp" that leaves "very little to the imagination". It received "mixed" reactions.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian of Norwich (1343 – after 1416), also known as Juliana of Norwich, Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was an English mystic and anchoress of the Middle Ages. Her writings, now known as "Revelations of Divine Love", are the earliest surviving English language works by a woman, although it is possible that some anonymous works may have had female authors. They are also the only surviving English language works by an anchoress.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian lived in the English city of Norwich, an important centre for commerce that also had a vibrant religious life. During her lifetime, the city suffered the devastating effects of the Black Death of 13481350, the Peasants' Revolt (which affected large parts of England in 1381), and the suppression of the Lollards. In 1373, aged 30 and so seriously ill she thought she was on her deathbed, Julian received a series of visions or shewings of the Passion of Christ. She recovered from her illness and wrote two versions of her experiences, the earlier one being completed soon after her recovery—a much longer version, today known as the "Long Text", was written many years later.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian lived in permanent seclusion as an anchoress in her cell, which was attached to St Julian's Church, Norwich. Four wills are known in which sums were bequeathed to a Norwich anchoress named Julian, and an account by the celebrated mystic Margery Kempe exists which provides evidence of counsel Kempe was given by the anchoress.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Details of Julian's family, education, or of her life before becoming an anchoress are not known; it is unclear whether her actual name was Julian. Preferring to write anonymously, and seeking isolation from the world, she was nevertheless influential in her lifetime. While her writings were carefully preserved, the Reformation prevented their publication in print. The "Long Text" was first published in 1670 by the Benedictine monk Serenus de Cressy, reissued by George Hargreaves Parker in 1843, and published in a modernised version in 1864. Julian's writings emerged from obscurity in 1901 when a manuscript in the British Museum was transcribed and published with notes by Grace Warrack; many translations have been made since. Julian is today considered to be an important Christian mystic and theologian.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The English city of Norwich, where Julian probably lived all her life, was second in importance to London during the 13th and 14th centuries, and the centre of the country's primary region for agriculture and trade. During her lifetime the Black Death reached Norwich; the disease may have killed over half the population of the city, and returned in subsequent outbreaks up to 1387. Julian was alive during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, when the city was overwhelmed by rebel forces led by Geoffrey Litster. Henry le Despenser, the Bishop of Norwich, executed Litster after the peasant army was defeated at the Battle of North Walsham. Despenser zealously opposed the Lollards, who advocated reform of the Church, and some of them were burnt at the stake at Lollards Pit, just outside the city.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Norwich may have been one of the most religious cities in Europe at that time, with its cathedral, friaries, churches and recluses' cells dominating both the landscape and the lives of its citizens. On the eastern side of the city was the cathedral priory (founded in 1096), the Benedictine Hospital of St Paul, the Carmelite friary, St Giles's Hospital, and the Greyfriars monastery. To the south, the priory at Carrow was located just beyond the city walls. Its income was mainly generated from "livings" acquired from the renting of its assets, which included the Norwich churches of St Julian, All Saints Timberhill, St Edward Conisford and St Catherine Newgate, all now lost apart from St Julian's. The churches with anchorite cells enhanced the reputation of the priory, as they attracted endowments from across society.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Little of Julian's life is known. She provided a few scant comments about herself in her own writings, later published in a book commonly known as "Revelations of Divine Love", a title first used in 1670. The earliest surviving copy of a manuscript of Julian's, made by a scribe in the 1470s, acknowledges her as the author of the work.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The earliest known references to Julian come from four wills, in which she is described as being an anchoress. The wills were all made by individuals who lived in Norfolk. Roger Reed, the rector of St Michael Coslany, Norwich, whose will of 20March 1394 provides the earliest record of Julian's existence, made a bequest of 12shillings to be paid to "Julian anakorite". Thomas Edmund, a Chantry priest from Aylsham, stipulated in his will of 19May 1404 that 12pennies be given to "Julian, anchoress of the church of St Julian, Conisford" and 8 pennies to "Sarah, living with her". John Plumpton from Norwich gave 40 pennies to "the anchoress in the church of St Julian's, Conisford, and a shilling each to her maid and her former maid Alice" in his will dated 24November 1415. The fourth person to mention Julian was Isabelle, Countess of Suffolk (the second wife of William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk), who made a bequest of 20shillings to "" in her will dated 26 September 1416. As a bequest to an unnamed anchorite at St Julian's was made in 1429, there is a possibility Julian was alive at this time.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian was known as a spiritual authority within her community, where she also served as an adviser. In around 1414, when she was in her seventies, she was visited by the English mystic Margery Kempe. "The Book of Margery Kempe", which is possibly the first autobiography to be written in English, mentions that Kempe travelled to Norwich to obtain spiritual advice from Julian, saying she was "bidden by Our Lord" to go to "Dame Jelyan ... for the anchoress was expert in" divine revelations, "and good counsel could give". Kempe never referred to Julian as an author, although she was familiar with the works of other spiritual writers, and mentioned them.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian wrote in "Revelations of Divine Love" that she became seriously ill at the age of 30. She could have been an anchoress when she fell ill, although it is possible she was a lay person living at home, as she was visited by her mother and other people, and the rules of enclosure for an anchoress would not normally have allowed outsiders such access. On 8May 1373 a curate administered the last rites of the Church to her, in anticipation of her death. As he held a crucifix above the foot of her bed, she began to lose her sight and feel physically numb, but gazing on the crucifix she saw the figure of Jesus begin to bleed. Over the next several hours, she had a series of 15 visions of Jesus, and a 16th the following night.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian completely recovered from her illness on 13May; there is general agreement that she wrote about her shewings shortly after she experienced them. Her original manuscript no longer exists, but a copy, now known as the "Short Text", survived. Decades later, perhaps in the early 1390s, she began a theological exploration of the meaning of her visions, and produced writings now known as "The Long Text". This second work seems to have gone through many revisions before it was finished, perhaps in the 1410s or 1420s. Julian's revelations seem to be the first important example of a vision by an Englishwoman for 200 years, in contrast with the Continent, where "a golden age of women's mysticism" occurred during the 13th and 14th centuries.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The few autobiographical details Julian included in the "Short Text", including her gender, were suppressed when she wrote her longer text later in life. Historians are not even sure of her actual name. It is generally thought to be taken from the church in Norwich to which her cell was attached, but "Julian" was also used in its own right as a girl's name in the Middle Ages, and so could have been her Christian name.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian's writings indicate that she was born in 1343 or late 1342, and died after 1416. She was six when the Black Death arrived in Norwich. It has been speculated that she was educated as a young girl by the Benedictine nuns of Carrow Abbey, as a school for girls existed there during her childhood. There is no written evidence that she was ever a nun at Carrow.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: According to several commentators, including Santha Bhattacharji in the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Julian's discussion of the maternal nature of God suggests that she knew of motherhood from her own experience of bringing up children. As plague epidemics were rampant during the 14th century, it has been suggested that Julian may have lost her own family as a result. By becoming an anchoress she would have been kept in quarantine away from the rest of the population of Norwich. However, nothing in Julian's writings provides any indication of the plagues, religious conflict, or civil insurrection that occurred in the city during her lifetime. Kenneth Leech and Sister Benedicta Ward, the joint authors of "Julian Reconsidered" (1988), concluded that she was a young widowed mother and never a nun. They based their opinion on a dearth of references about her occupation in life and a lack of evidence to connect her with Carrow Abbey, which would have honoured her and buried her in the grounds had she been strongly connected with the priory.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian was an anchoress from at least the 1390s. Living in her cell, she would have played an important part within her community, devoting herself to a life of prayer to complement the clergy in their primary function as protectors of souls. Her solitary life would have begun after the completion of an onerous selection process. An important church ceremony would have taken place at St Julian's Church, in the presence of the bishop. During the ceremony, psalms from the Office of the Dead would have been sung for Julian (as if it were her funeral), and at some point she would have been led to her cell door and into the room beyond. The door would afterwards have been sealed up, and she would have remained in her cell for the rest of her life.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Once her life of seclusion had begun, Julian would have had to follow the strict rules laid down for anchoresses. Two important sources of information about the life of such women have survived. "De institutione inclusarum" was written in Latin by Ælred of Rieveaulx in around 1162, and the "Ancrene Riwle" was written in Middle English in around 1200. Originally made for three sisters, the "Ancrene Riwle" became in time a manual for all female recluses. The work regained its former popularity during the mystical movement of the 14th century. It may have been available to Julian to read and become familiar with—being a book written in a language she could read. The book stipulated that anchoresses should live in confined isolation, in poverty, and under a vow of chastity. The popular image of Julian living with her cat for company stems from the regulations set out in the "Ancrene Riwle".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: As an anchoress living in the heart of an urban environment, Julian would not have been entirely secluded. She would have enjoyed the financial support of the more prosperous members of the local community, as well as the general affection of the population. She would have in turn provided prayers and given advice to visitors, serving as an example of devout holiness. According to one edition of the "Cambridge Medieval History", it is possible that she met the English mystic Walter Hilton, who died when Julian was in her fifties, and who may have influenced her writings in a small way.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Both the "Long Text" and "Short Text" of Julian's "Revelations of Divine Love" contain an account of each of her revelations. Her writings are unique, as they are the earliest surviving English language works by a woman, although it is possible that some anonymous works may have had female authors. They are also the only surviving writings by an English anchoress. The "Long Text" consists of 86 chapters and about 63,500 words, and is about six times longer than the "Short Text".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: In 14th century England, when women were generally barred from high status positions, their knowledge of Latin would have been limited, and it is more likely that they read and wrote in English. The historian Janina Ramirez has suggested that by choosing to write in her vernacular language, a precedent set by other medieval writers, Julian was "attempting to express the inexpressible" in the best way possible. Nothing written by Julian was ever mentioned in any bequests, nor written for a specific readership, or influenced other medieval authors, and almost no references were made to her writings from the time they were written until the beginning of the 20th century.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian's writings were largely unknown until 1670, when they were published under the title "XVI Revelations of Divine Love, shewed to a devout servant of Our Lord, called Mother Juliana, an Anchorete of Norwich: Who lived in the Dayes of King Edward the Third" by Serenus de Cressy, a confessor for the English nuns at Cambrai. Cressy based his book on the "Long Text", probably written by Julian in the 1410s or 1420s. Three manuscript copies of the "Long Text" have survived. One copy of the complete "Long Text", known as the Paris Manuscript, resides in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, and two other manuscripts are now in the British Library in London. One of the manuscripts was perhaps copied out by Dame Clementina Cary, who founded the English Benedictine monastery in Paris. Cressy's edition was reprinted in 1843 and 1864, and again in 1902.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: A new version of the book was produced by Henry Collins in 1877. It became still better known after the publication of Grace Warrack's 1901 edition, which included modernised language, as well as, according to the author Georgia Ronan Crampton, a "sympathetic informed introduction". The book introduced most early 20th century readers to Julian's writings; according to the historian Henrietta Leyser, Julian was "beloved in the 20th century by theologians and poets alike".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian's shorter work, now known as the "Short Text", was probably written not long after her visions in May 1373. As with the "Long Text", the original manuscript was lost, but not before at least one copy was made by a scribe. It was in the possession of an English Catholic family at one point. The copy was seen and described by the antiquarian Francis Blomefield in 1745. After disappearing from view for 150 years, it was found in 1910, in a collection of contemplative medieval texts bought by the British Museum, and was published by the Reverend Dundas Harford in 1911. Now part of MS Additional 37790, the manuscript—with Julian's "Short Text" of 33 pages (folios 97r to 115r)—is held in the British Library.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian of Norwich is now recognised as one of England's most important mystics; according to Leyser, she was the greatest English anchoress. For the theologian Denys Turner the core issue Julian addresses in "Revelations of Divine Love" is "the problem of sin". Julian says that sin is "behovely", which is often translated as "necessary", "appropriate", or "fitting".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian lived in a time of turmoil, but her theology was optimistic and spoke of God's omnibenevolence and love in terms of joy and compassion. "Revelations of Divine Love" "contains a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved by God and of being protected by his Providence".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: A characteristic element of Julian's mystical theology was her equating divine love with motherly love, a theme found in the Biblical prophets, as in Isaiah 49:15. According to Julian, God is both our mother and our father. As the medievalist Caroline Walker Bynum shows, this idea was also developed by Bernard of Clairvaux and others from the 12thcentury onward. Bynum regards the medieval notion of Jesus as a mother as being a metaphor rather than a literal belief. In her fourteenth revelation, Julian writes of the Trinity in domestic terms, comparing Jesus to a mother who is wise, loving and merciful. Author Frances Beer asserted that Julian believed that the maternal aspect of Christ was literal and not metaphoric: Christ is not like a mother, he is literally the mother. Julian emphasised this by explaining how the bond between mother and child is the only earthly relationship that comes close to the relationship a person can have with Jesus. She used metaphors when writing about Jesus in relation to ideas about conceiving, giving birth, weaning and upbringing.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian wrote, "For I saw no wrath except on man's side, and He forgives that in us, for wrath is nothing else but a perversity and an opposition to peace and to love." She wrote that God sees us as perfect and waits for the day when human souls mature so that evil and sin will no longer hinder us, and that "God is nearer to us than our own soul". This theme is repeated throughout her work: "Jesus answered with these words, saying: 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.' ... This was said so tenderly, without blame of any kind toward me or anybody else."


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Her status as an anchoress may have prevented contemporary monastic and university authorities from challenging her theology. A lack of references to her work during her own time may indicate that she kept her writings with her in her cell, so that religious authorities were unaware of them. The 14th-century English cardinal Adam Easton's "Defensorium sanctae birgittae", Alfonso of Jaen's "Epistola Solitarii", and the English mystic William Flete's "Remedies against Temptations", are all referenced in Julian's text.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Julian is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 8 May. The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States also commemorate her on 8 May.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Although not canonised in the Catholic Church () or listed in the "Roman Martyrology", Julian is said to have a feast day on 13 May, and she is quoted in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church". In 1997, Father Giandomenico Mucci listed Julian among eighteen saints and blesseds who are considered potential Doctors of the Church, describing her as a "beata".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Pope Benedict XVI discussed the life and teaching of Julian at a General Audience on 1 December 2010, without describing her as either a saint or a blessed as he regularly did when discussing such persons in the same series of audiences. He stated: "Julian of Norwich understood the central message for spiritual life: God is love and it is only if one opens oneself to this love, totally and with total trust, and lets it become one's sole guide in life, that all things are transfigured, true peace and true joy found and one is able to radiate it." He concluded: "'And all will be well,' 'all manner of things shall be well': this is the final message that Julian of Norwich transmits to us and that I am also proposing to you today."


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The 20th- and 21st-century revival of interest in Julian has been associated with a renewed interest in Christian contemplation in the English-speaking world. The Julian Meetings, an association of contemplative prayer groups, takes its name from her, but is unaffiliated to any faith doctrine, and is unconnected with Julian's theology, although her writings are sometimes used in meetings.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: There were no hermits or anchorites in Norwich from 1312 until the emergence of Julian in the 1370s. St Julian's Church, located off King Street in the south of Norwich city centre, holds regular services. The building, which has a round tower, is one of the 31 parish churches from a total of 58 that once existed in Norwich during the Middle Ages, of which 36 had an anchorite cell.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The cell did not remain empty after Julian's death. In 1428 Julian(a) Lampett (or Lampit) moved in when Edith Wilton was the prioress responsible for the church, and remained in the cell until 1478 when Margaret Pygot was prioress. The cell continued to be used by anchorites until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, when it was demolished and the church stripped of its rood screen and statues. No rector was appointed from then until 1581.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: By 1845 St Julian's was in a poor state of repair and the east wall collapsed that year. After an appeal for funds, the church was restored. The church underwent further restoration during the first half of the 20th century, but was destroyed during the Norwich Blitz of June 1942 when the tower received a direct hit. After the war, the church was rebuilt. It now appears largely as it was before its destruction, although its tower is much reduced in height and a chapel has been built in place of the long-lost anchorite cell.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" quotes from "Revelations of Divine Love" in its explanation of how God can draw a greater good, even from evil. The poet T. S. Eliot incorporated "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well" three times into his poem "Little Gidding", the fourth of his "Four Quartets" (1943), as well as Julian's "the ground of our beseeching". The poem renewed the English-speaking public's awareness of Julian's texts.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: Sydney Carter's song "All Shall Be Well" (sometimes called "The Bells of Norwich"), which uses words by Julian, was published in 1982. Julian's writings have been translated into numerous languages.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: In 2013 the University of East Anglia honoured Julian by naming its new study centre the Julian Study Centre. Norwich's first Julian Week was held in May 2013. The celebration included concerts, talks, and free events held throughout the city, with the stated aim of encouraging people "to learn about Julian and her artistic, historical and theological significance".


title: Julian of Norwich

text: The Lady Julian Bridge, crossing the River Wensum and linking King Street and the Riverside Walk close to Norwich railway station, was named in honour of the anchoress. An example of a swing bridge, built to allow larger vessels to approach a basin further upstream, it was designed by the Mott MacDonald Group and completed in 2009.


title: Julian of Norwich

text: In March 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the experiences of Julian and other anchorites were cited in advice for people around the world newly discovering self-isolation. Ramirez was quoted by BBC News, saying that "Julian was living in the wake of the Black Death, and around her repeated plagues were re-decimating an already depleted population. I think she was self-isolating. The other anchorites would have understood that by removing themselves from life this would not only give them a chance of preserving their own life but also of finding calm and quiet and focus in a chaotic world."


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism (adjective "retrofuturistic" or "retrofuture") is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipating what will come, retrofuturism is the remembering of that anticipation. Characterized by a blend of old-fashioned "retro styles" with futuristic technology, retrofuturism explores the themes of tension between past and future, and between the alienating and empowering effects of technology. Primarily reflected in artistic creations and modified technologies that realize the imagined artifacts of its parallel reality, retrofuturism can be seen as "an animating perspective on the world".


title: Retrofuturism

text: The word retrofuturism is formed by the addition of the prefix "retro" from the Latin language, which gives the meaning of "backwards" to the word "future", a word also originating from Latin.


title: Retrofuturism

text: According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", an early use of the term appears in a Bloomingdales advertisement in a 1983 issue of "The New York Times". The ad talks of jewellery that is "silverized steel and sleek grey linked for a retro-futuristic look". In an example more related to retrofuturism as an exploration of past visions of the future, the term appears in the form of “retro-futurist” in a 1984 review of the film "Brazil" in "The New Yorker". Critic Pauline Kael writes, "[Terry Gilliam] presents a retro-futurist fantasy."


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism builds on ideas of futurism, but the latter term functions differently in several different contexts. In avant-garde artistic, literary and design circles, futurism is a long-standing and well-established term. But in its more popular form, futurism (sometimes referred to as futurology) is "an early optimism that focused on the past and was rooted in the nineteenth century, an early-twentieth-century 'golden age' that continued long into the 1960s' Space Age".


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism is first and foremost based on modern but changing notions of "the future". As Guffey notes, retrofuturism is "a recent neologism", but it "builds on futurists' fevered visions of space colonies with flying cars, robotic servants, and interstellar travel on display there; where futurists took their promise for granted, retro-futurism emerged as a more skeptical reaction to these dreams." It took its current shape in the 1970s, a time when technology was rapidly changing. From the advent of the personal computer to the birth of the first test tube baby, this period was characterized by intense and rapid technological change. But many in the general public began to question whether applied science would achieve its earlier promise—that life would inevitably improve through technological progress. In the wake of the Vietnam War, environmental depredations, and the energy crisis, many commentators began to question the benefits of applied science. But they also wondered, sometimes in awe, sometimes in confusion, at the scientific positivism evinced by earlier generations. Retrofuturism "seeped into academic and popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s", inflecting George Lucas's "Star Wars" and the paintings of pop artist Kenny Scharf alike". Surveying the optimistic futurism of the early twentieth century, historians Joe Corn and Brian Horrigan remind us that retrofuturism is "a history of an idea, or a system of ideas—an ideology. The future, of course, does not exist except as an act of belief or imagination."


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism incorporates two overlapping trends which may be summarized as "the future as seen from the past" and "the past as seen from the future".


title: Retrofuturism

text: The first trend, retrofuturism proper, is directly inspired by the imagined future which existed in the minds of writers, artists, and filmmakers in the pre-1960 period who attempted to predict the future, either in serious projections of existing technology (e.g. in magazines like "Science and Invention") or in science fiction novels and stories. Such futuristic visions are refurbished and updated for the present, and offer a nostalgic, counterfactual image of what the future might have been, but is not.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The second trend is the inverse of the first: futuristic retro. It starts with the retro appeal of old styles of art, clothing, mores, and then grafts modern or futuristic technologies onto it, creating a mélange of past, present, and future elements. Steampunk, a term applying both to the retrojection of futuristic technology into an alternative Victorian age, and the application of neo-Victorian styles to modern technology, is a highly successful version of this second trend. In the movie "Space Station 76" (2014), mankind has reached the stars, but clothes, technology, furnitures and above all social taboos are purposely highly reminiscent of the mid-1970s.


title: Retrofuturism

text: In practice, the two trends cannot be sharply distinguished, as they mutually contribute to similar visions. Retrofuturism of the first type is inevitably influenced by the scientific, technological, and social awareness of the present, and modern retrofuturistic creations are never simply copies of their pre-1960 inspirations; rather, they are given a new (often wry or ironic) twist by being seen from a modern perspective.


title: Retrofuturism

text: In the same way, futuristic retro owes much of its flavor to early science fiction (e.g. the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells), and in a quest for stylistic authenticity may continue to draw on writers and artists of the desired period.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Both retrofuturistic trends in themselves refer to no specific time. When a time period is supplied for a story, it might be a counterfactual present with unique technology; a fantastic version of the future; or an alternate past in which the imagined (fictitious or projected) inventions of the past were indeed real.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The import of retrofuturism has, in recent years, come under considerable discussion. Some, like the German architecture critic Niklas Maak, see retrofuturism as "nothing more than an aesthetic feedback loop recalling a lost belief in progress, the old images of the once radically new". Bruce McCall calls retrofuturism a "faux nostalgia"—the nostalgia for a future that never happened.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Although retrofuturism, due to the varying time-periods and futuristic visions to which it alludes, does not provide a unified thematic purpose or experience, a common thread is dissatisfaction or discomfort with the present, to which retrofuturism provides a nostalgic contrast.


title: Retrofuturism

text: A similar theme is dissatisfaction with the modern world itself. A world of high-speed air transport, computers, and space stations is (by any past standard) "futuristic"; yet the search for alternative and perhaps more promising futures suggests a feeling that the desired or expected future has failed to materialize. Retrofuturism suggests an alternative path, and in addition to pure nostalgia, may act as a reminder of older but now forgotten ideals. This dissatisfaction also manifests as political commentary in Retrofuturistic literature, in which visionary nostalgia is paradoxically linked to a utopian future modelled after conservative values as seen in the example of Fox News' use of BioShock's aesthetic in a 2014 broadcast.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism also implies a reevaluation of technology. Unlike the total rejection of post-medieval technology found in most fantasy genres, or the embrace of any and all possible technologies found in some science-fiction, retrofuturism calls for a human-scale, largely comprehensible technology, amenable to tinkering and less opaque than modern black-box technology.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism is not universally optimistic, and when its points of reference touch on gloomy periods like World War II, or the paranoia of the Cold War, it may itself become bleak and dystopian. In such cases, the alternative reality inspires fear, not hope, though it may still be coupled with nostalgia for a world of greater moral as well as mechanical transparency. It has been argued that retrofuturism, through finding hope in the disappointment and dystopia, and using that hope to push towards a brighter future, can be optimistic. Similarly, the visions of utopias depicted in retrofuturistic pieces can re-instill that hopefulness in audiences that have lost it.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Genres of retrofuturism include cyberpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, atompunk, and Raygun Gothic, each referring to a technology from a specific time period.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The first of these to be named and recognized as its own genre was cyberpunk, originating in the early to mid-1980s in literature with the works of Bruce Bethke, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Pat Cadigan. Its setting is almost always a dystopian future, with a strong emphasis either upon outlaws hacking the futuristic world's machinery (often computers and computer networks), or even upon post-apocalyptic settings. The post-apocalyptic variant is the one usually associated with retrofuturism, where characters will rely upon a mixture of old and new technologies. Furthermore, synthwave and vaporwave are nostalgic, humorous and often retrofuturistic revivals of early cyberpunk aesthetic.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The second to be named and recognized was steampunk, in the late 1980s. It is generally more optimistic and brighter than cyberpunk, set within an alternate history closely resembling our Long 19th century from circa the Regency era onwards and up to circa 1914, only that 20th-century or even futuristic technologies are based upon steam power. The genre themes also often involve references to electricity as a yet-as-of-now mysterious force that is considered the utopian power source of the future and sometimes even regarded as possessing mystical healing powers (much as with nuclear energy around the middle of the 20th century). The genre often strongly resembles the original scientific romances and utopic novels of genre predecessors H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, and began in its modern form with literature such as Mervyn Peake's "Titus Alone" (1959), Ronald W. Clark's "Queen Victoria's Bomb" (1967), Michael Moorcock's "A Nomad of the Time Streams" series (1971–1981), K. W. Jeter's "Morlock Night" (1979), and William Gibson & Bruce Sterling's "The Difference Engine" (1990), and with films such as "The Time Machine" (1960) or "Castle in the Sky" (1986). A notable early example of steampunk in comics is the Franco-Belgian graphic novel series "Les Cités obscures", started by its creators François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters in the early 1980s. At times, steampunk as a genre crosses into that of Weird West.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The most recently named and recognized retrofuturistic genre is dieselpunk aka decodence (the term dieselpunk is often associated with a more pulpish form and decodence, named after the contemporary art movement of Art Deco, with a more sophisticated form), set in alternate versions of an era located circa in the period of the 1920s–1950s. Early examples include the 1970s concept albums, their designs and marketing materials of the German band Kraftwerk (see below), the comic-book character Rocketeer (first appearing in his own series in 1982), the "Fallout" series of video games, and films such as "Brazil" (1985), "Batman" (1989), "The Rocketeer" (1991), "Batman Returns" (1992), "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994), "The City of Lost Children" (1995), and "Dark City" (1998). Especially the lower end of the genre strongly mimic the pulp literature of the era (such as the 2004 film "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"), and films of the genre often reference the cinematic styles of film noir and German Expressionism. At times, the genre overlaps with the alternate history genre of a different World War II, such as with an Axis victory.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Although loosely affiliated with early-twentieth century Futurism, retrofuturism draws from a wider range of sources. To be sure, retrofuturist art and literature often draws from the factories, buildings, cities, and transportation systems of the machine age. But it might be said that 20th century futuristic vision found its ultimate expression in the development of Googie or Populuxe design. As applied to fiction, this brand of retrofuturistic visual style began to take shape in William Gibson's short story "The Gernsback Continuum". Here and elsewhere it is referred to as Raygun Gothic, a catchall term for a visual style that incorporates various aspects of the Googie, Streamline Moderne, and Art Deco architectural styles when applied to retrofuturistic science fiction environments.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Although Raygun Gothic is most similar to the Googie or Populuxe style and sometimes synonymous with it, the name is primarily applied to images of science fiction. The style is also still a popular choice for retro sci-fi in film and video games. Raygun Gothic's primary influences include the set designs of Kenneth Strickfaden and Fritz Lang. The term was coined by William Gibson in his story "The Gernsback Continuum": "Cohen introduced us and explained that Dialta [a noted pop-art historian] was the prime mover behind the latest Barris-Watford project, an illustrated history of what she called 'American Streamlined Modern'. Cohen called it 'raygun Gothic'. Their working title was "The Airstream Futuropolis: The Tomorrow That Never Was.""


title: Retrofuturism

text: Aspects of this form of retrofuturism can also be associated with the late 1970s and early 1980s the neo-Constructivist revival that emerged in art and design circles. Designers like David King in the UK and Paula Scher in the US imitated the cool, futuristic look of the Russian avant-garde in the years following the Russian Revolution.


title: Retrofuturism

text: With three of their 1970s albums, German band Kraftwerk tapped into a larger retrofuturist vision, by combining their futuristic pioneering electronic music with nostalgic visuals. Kraftwerk's retro-futurism in their 1970s visual language has been referred to by German literary critic Uwe Schütte, a reader at Aston University, Birmingham, as "clear retro-style", and in the 2008 three-hour documentary "Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution", Irish-British music scholar Mark J. Prendergast refers to Kraftwerk's peculiar "nostalgia for the future" clearly referencing "an interwar "[progressive]" Germany that never was but could've been, and now "[due to their influence as a band]" hopefully could happen again". Design historian Elizabeth Guffey has written that if Kraftwerk's machine imagery was lifted from Russian design motifs that were once considered futuristic, they also presented a "compelling, if somewhat chilling, vision of the world in which musical ecstasy is rendered cool, mechanical and precise." Kraftwerk's three retrofuturist albums are:


title: Retrofuturism

text: From their 1981 album "Computer World" onwards, Kraftwerk have largely abandoned their retro notions and appear mainly futuristic only. The only references to their earlier retro style today appear in excerpts from their 1970s' promo clips that are projected in between more modern segments in their stage shows during the performance of these old song.


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturistic clothing is a particular imagined vision of the clothing that might be worn in the distant future, typically found in science fiction and science fiction films of the 1940s onwards, but also in journalism and other popular culture. The garments envisioned have most commonly been either one-piece garments, skin-tight garments, or both, typically ending up looking like either overalls or leotards, often worn together with plastic boots. In many cases, there is an assumption that the clothing of the future will be highly uniform.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The cliché of futuristic clothing has now become part of the idea of retrofuturism. Futuristic fashion plays on these now-hackneyed stereotypes, and recycles them as elements into the creation of real-world clothing fashions.


title: Retrofuturism

text: "We've actually seen this look creeping up on the runway as early as 1995, though it hasn't been widely popular or acceptable street wear even through 2008," said Brooke Kelley, fashion editor and "Glamour" magazine writer. "For the last 20 years, fashion has reviewed the times of past, decade by decade, and what we are seeing now is a combination of different eras into one complete look. Future fashion is a style beyond anything we've yet dared to wear, and it's going to be a trend setter's paradise."


title: Retrofuturism

text: Retrofuturism has appeared in some examples of postmodern architecture. To critics such as Niklas Maak, the term suggests that the "future style" is "a mere quotation of its own iconographic tradition" and retrofuturism is little more than "an aesthetic feedback loop" In the example seen at right, the upper portion of the building is not intended to be integrated with the building but rather to appear as a separate object—a huge flying saucer-like space ship only incidentally attached to a conventional building. This appears intended not to evoke an even remotely possible future, but rather a past imagination of that future, or a reembracing of the futuristic vision of Googie architecture.


title: Retrofuturism

text: The once-futuristic Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building was built in 1961 as an expression of the then new jet and space ages, incorporating what later came to be known as Googie and Populuxe design elements. Plans unveiled in 2008 for LAX's expansion featured retrofuturist flying-saucer/spaceship themes in proposals for new terminals and concourses.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: A letter is a segmental symbol of a phonemic writing system. The inventory of all letters forms an alphabet. Letters broadly correspond to phonemes in the spoken form of the language, although there is rarely a consistent and exact correspondence between letters and phonemes.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: The word "letter", borrowed from Old French "letre", entered Middle English around 1200 AD, eventually displacing the Old English term (bookstaff). "Letter" is descended from the Latin "littera", which may have descended from the Greek "διφθέρα" (, writing tablet), via Etruscan.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: A letter is a type of grapheme, which is a functional unit in a writing system: a letter (or group of letters) represents visually a phoneme (a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language). Letters are combined to form written words, just as phonemes are combined to form spoken words. A sequence of graphemes representing a phoneme is called a multigraph. A digraph is a case of polygraphs consisting of two graphemes. Examples of digraphs in English include "ch", "sh", and "th". Some phonemes are represented by three letters, called a trigraph, such as "sch" in German.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: The same letterform may be used in different alphabets but have different sounds. The letters , and look rather alike but are the Latin H, Greek eta and Cyrillic en respectively; conversely the letters , (sigma) and (Es (Cyrillic)) from these alphabets each represent (approximately) the same [s] sound. The basic Latin alphabet is used by hundreds of languages around the world, but there are many other alphabets.Specific names are associated with letters, which may differ with language, dialect, and history. "Z", for example, is usually called "zed" in all English-speaking countries except the US, where it is named "zee". As elements of alphabets, letters have prescribed orders, although this too may vary by language. In Spanish, for instance, is a separate letter, sorted separately from : this distinction is not usually recognised in English dictionaries. (In computer systems, each has its own unique code point, and , respectively.)


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: Letters may also have a numerical or quantitative value. This applies to Roman numerals and the letters of other writing systems. In English, Arabic numerals are typically used instead of letters. Greek and Latin letters have a variety of modern uses in mathematics, science, and engineering.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: Before alphabets, phonograms, graphic symbols of sounds were used. There were three kinds of phonograms: Verbal, pictures for entire words, Syllabic, which stood for articulations of words, and alphabetic, which represented signs or letters. The earliest examples of which are from Ancient Egypt and Ancient China, dating to around 3,000 BCE. The first consonantal alphabet emerged around 1800 BCE, representing the Phoenicians, Semitic workers in Egypt. Their script was originally written and read from right to left. From the Phoenician alphabet came the Etruscan and Greek alphabets. From there, the most widely used alphabet today emerged, Latin, which is written and read from left to right.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: The Phoenician alphabet had 22 letters, Nineteen of which the Latin alphabet used, and the Greek Alphabet, which was adapted around 900 BCE, added four letters to the Phoenician list. This Greek alphabet was the first to assign letters not only to consonant sounds, but also to vowels.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: The Roman Empire further developed and refined the Latin alphabet, beginning around 500 BCE. During the fifth and sixth centuries, the development of lowercase letters began to emerge in Roman writing. At this point, paragraphs, uppercase and lowercase letters, and the concept of sentences and clauses still haven't emerged, these final bits of development emerged in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: Finally, many slight letter additions and drops were made to the common alphabet used in the western world. Minor changes were made such as the removal of certain letters, such as "thorn" (Þ þ), "wynn" (Ƿ ƿ), and "eth" (Ð ð).


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: A letter can have multiple variants, or allographs, related to variation in style of handwriting or printing. Some writing systems have two major types of allographs for each letter: an "uppercase" form (also called "capital" or "majuscule") and a "lowercase" form (also called "minuscule"). Upper- and lowercase letters represent the same sound, but serve different functions in writing. Capital letters are most often used at the beginning of a sentence, as the first letter of a proper name or title, or in headers or inscriptions. They may also serve other functions, such as in the German language where all nouns begin with capital letters.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: The terms "uppercase" and "lowercase" originated in the days of handset type for printing presses. Individual letter blocks were kept in specific compartments of drawers in a type case. Capital letters were stored in a higher drawer or upper case.


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: In most alphabetic scripts, diacritics (or accents) are a routinely used. English is unusual in not using them except for loanwords from other languages or personal names (for example, "naïve, Brontë"). The ubiquity of this usage is indicated by the existence of precomposed characters for use with computer systems (for example , , , , .)


title: Letter (alphabet)

text: In the following table, letters from multiple different writing systems are shown, to demonstrate the variety of letters used throughout the world.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: The "Spruance"-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace the many World War II–built - and s, and was the primary destroyer built for the U.S. Navy during the 1970s and 1980s. It was named in honor of United States Navy Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, who successfully led major naval battles in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II such as the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: Introduced in 1975, the class was designed with gas-turbine propulsion, a flight deck and hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters, all-digital weapons, and automated 127 mm (5-inch) guns. The "Spruance" class was originally designed to escort a carrier group, primarily for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), with point-defense anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) missiles and limited anti-ship capabilities. Two dozen members of the class were upgraded with Tomahawk cruise missiles for land attack. The Navy retired the class somewhat earlier than planned, decommissioning the last ship in 2005. Most "Spruance"s were broken up or destroyed as targets. Its hull form and propulsion plant were adopted as the foundation of the "Ticonderoga"-class cruisers constructed in the 1980s. The class was succeeded as the main U.S. destroyer by the "Arleigh Burke"-class destroyer.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: Much larger than other destroyers of the era, the "Spruance"s were comparable in size to contemporary guided-missile cruisers (CG and CGN) and U.S. Navy light cruisers (CL) in World War II. This allowed them to accommodate a helicopter flight deck, a first for a U.S. Navy destroyer, and an enclosed hangar with space for up to two medium-lift helicopters, a first for a U.S. Navy destroyer or cruiser. The "Spru-cans" were the first large U.S. Navy ships to use gas turbine propulsion: four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines that generated about 80,000 horsepower (60 MW). This configuration (developed in the 1960s by the Royal Canadian Navy for the s and known as COmbined Gas And Gas, or COGAG) was very successful and used on most subsequent U.S. warships. As of 2010, all U.S. Navy surface combatants (except nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and the LCS-1) used the LM2500 COGAG arrangement, usually with two turbines per shaft.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: The ships were initially controversial, especially among members of the United States Congress who believed that their unimposing looks, and their original armament of two guns and an ASROC and Sea Sparrow missile launcher, implied that the vessels were weak compared to Soviet designs that carried large numbers of anti-ship missiles. The "Spruance" class was also unfavorably compared to earlier U.S. designs that had more visible guns or launchers for Standard medium-range missiles. Their advocates noted that they were successful in their intended ASW role due to their seaworthiness, quiet operation, and ability to operate two helicopters.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: The "Spruance" class received the "DD" designation in the hull classification symbol system which was previously applied to gun destroyers, though their primary armament as designed was missiles. However, their original complement of 8 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles was only sufficient for point defense, compared to other American destroyers designated as DDG which were designed to provide anti-aircraft warfare screening to the fleet, while some newer DDG ships further added surface-to-surface capabilities for anti-ship or land strike. In the early 1980s, the class received quadruple Harpoon missile launchers that were installed amidships. Six members of the class received Armored Box Launchers Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles, while a major update from the mid-1980s for 24 members of the class added a 61-cell Vertical Launch Missile System (VLS) for the Tomahawk. Despite these upgrades, the class remained their DD classification because they continued to lack the area anti-aircraft capabilities of guided-missile cruisers (CG and CGN) and destroyers (DDG).


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: Until the class was named for Admiral Spruance, the acquisition effort had been known as the DX program. It aimed to award the production contract for the entire class of 30 ships to a single shipyard, under the Total Package Procurement concept originated by the Whiz Kids of Robert McNamara's Pentagon. The idea was to reap the benefits of mass construction. After a selection process "noted for political influence and shifting rules," the entire contract was awarded on 23 June 1970 to the Litton-Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Labor and technical problems caused cost overruns and delayed construction.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: One additional ship, , was ordered on 29 September 1979. "Hayler" was originally planned as a DDH (Destroyer, Helicopter) design, which would carry more anti-submarine helicopters than the standard design of the "Spruance" class. Eventually this plan to build a DDH was scrapped and a slightly modified DD-963 class hull was put in commission.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: Four additional ships were built originally for the Iranian Navy with the Mark 26/Standard AAW missile system and commissioned as the "Kidd"s for the U.S. Navy. The "Kidd"-class destroyers used the same hull as the "Spruance"s but they were more advanced general-purpose ships with area anti-air warfare capabilities that the "Spruance" class lacked. It was once planned to build all of the "Spruance" class up to this standard, but it was too expensive. A slightly lengthened version of the hull was also used for the s, originally planned as DDG-47-class destroyers but redesignated as cruisers in 1980 to emphasize the additional capability provided by the ships' Aegis combat systems, and their flag facilities suitable for an admiral and his staff.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: An air-capable mini V/STOL aircraft carrier with fighters and ASW helicopters based on the "Spruance" hull was seriously considered but not produced.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: The "Spruance" design is modular in nature, allowing for easy installation of entire subsystems within the ship. Although originally designed for anti-submarine warfare, seven vessels—"Comte de Grasse", "Merrill", "Conolly", "John Rodgers", "Leftwich", "Deyo", and "Ingersoll—"were initially upgraded with the installation of pair of four-round Armored Box Launchers (ABL) for the Tomahawk cruise missile, one each side of the ASROC launcher, giving them a land attack capability. 23 of the remaining vessels then received a more comprehensive upgrade with the installation of a 61-cell Mark 41 Vertical Launch Missile System (VLS) forward, replacing the ASROC launcher and allowing for a greater weapons load to be carried. One of the ABL ships, "Deyo", also received the VLS upgrade while "Harry W. Hill" was the only "Spruance" that did not receive the Tomahawk as its VLS upgrade was cancelled. "Hill" and the remaining 6 ABL-equipped ships were the first of the class to be withdrawn from service.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: At least ten VLS ships, including "Cushing", "O'Bannon", and "Thorn", had a 21-cell Mark 49 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher mounted on the starboard fantail.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: In order to save $28 million a year, the Navy accelerated the decommissioning of the "Spruance" class, though they could have served to 2019 had they been maintained and updated. Despite the recent modifications to the "Spruance" and "Kidd" classes, they were still considered expensive and manpower-intensive to operate, while the succeeding "Arleigh Burke" class were more capable and versatile due to their Aegis combat system while also being more cost-efficient, and by the end of the 1990s, many "Arleigh Burke"-class destroyers had entered the fleet. While the early Flight I "Arleigh Burke" ships only had a flight deck, Flight IIA and subsequent vessels added the enclosed hangar which made their aviation facilities comparable to the "Spruance" class.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: The Navy planned to replace its current destroyers and cruisers with the new (DDG-1000) destroyers, but the 2010 Defense budget funded the construction of only three DDG-1000s. Production of "Arleigh Burke" class continued and it became the U.S. Navy's only operational class of destroyers after the , the last "Spruance"-class destroyer on active service, was decommissioned on 21 September 2005. "Cushing" was unsuccessfully offered to the Pakistan Navy before being sunk as a target on 29 April 2009. The four "Kidd"-class destroyers were decommissioned in 1998 and were sold to Taiwan in 2005 and 2006.


title: Spruance-class destroyer

text: Few "Spruance"s were preserved in storage like some older classes or offered up for sale to foreign navies. Some were broken up and most of the rest were sunk as targets in various fleet exercises. One exception is the ex-, which replaced the ex- in 2005 as the Self Defense Test Ship. The remote-controlled SDTS tows a target barge, allowing crews to fire live weapons at a ship-like moving target.


title: Fixer (person)

text: A fixer or sometimes cleaner, is someone who carries out assignments for or is skillful at solving problems for others. The term has different meanings in different contexts. In British usage the term is neutral, meaning "the sort of person who solves problems and gets things done". In journalism, a fixer is a local person who expedites the work of a correspondent working in a foreign country. Use in American English implies that methods used to conceal their clients' identities or potential scandals are almost certainly of questionable legality, if not morality. A fixer who disposes of bodies or "cleans up" physical evidence of crime is often more specifically called a cleaner. In sports, the term describes someone who makes (usually illegal) arrangements to manipulate or pre-arrange the outcome of a sporting contest.


title: Fixer (person)

text: Fixers may primarily use legal means, such as lawsuits and payoffs, to accomplish their ends, or they may carry out unlawful activities. The White House Plumbers have been described as fixers for Richard Nixon; their methods included break-ins and burglary. Fixers who specialize in disposing of evidence or bodies are called "cleaners", like the character of Victor "The Cleaner" in the film "La Femme Nikita", or the fictional Jonathan Quinn, subject of the Brett Battles novel "The Cleaner".


title: Fixer (person)

text: In Britain, a fixer is a commercial consultant for business improvement, whereas in an American context a fixer is often an associate of a powerful person who carries out difficult, undercover, or stealth actions, or extricates a client out of personal or legal trouble. A fixer may freelance, like Judy Smith, a well-known American public relations "crisis consultant" whose career provided inspiration for the popular 2012 television series "Scandal". More commonly a fixer works for a single employer, under a title such as "attorney" or "bodyguard", which does not typically describe the kinds of services that they provide.


title: Fixer (person)

text: In sport, when a match fixer arranges a preordained outcome of a sporting or athletic contest, the motivation is often gambling, and the fixer is often employed by organized crime. In the Black Sox Scandal, for instance, Major League Baseball players became involved with a gambling syndicate and agreed to lose the 1919 World Series in exchange for payoffs. In another example, in 1975, Boston mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Ciulla of the Winter Hill Gang was identified as the fixer who routinely bribed jockeys to throw horse races. Other insiders may also be fixers, as in the case of veterinarian Mark Gerard, who, in September 1978, was convicted of fraud for "masterminding a horse-racing scandal that involved switching two thoroughbreds" so that he could cash in on a long-shot bet.


title: Fixer (person)

text: In journalism, a fixer is someone, often a local journalist, hired by a foreign correspondent or a media company to help arrange a story. Fixers will most often act as translators and guides, and will help to arrange local interviews that the correspondent would not otherwise have access to. They help to collect information for the story and sometimes play a crucial role in the outcome. Fixers are rarely credited, and often put themselves in danger, especially in regimes where they might face consequences from an oppressive government for exposing iniquities the state may want to censor.


title: Fixer (person)

text: In modern journalism, these aides are often the prime risk mitigators within a journalist's team, making crucial decisions for the reporter. According to journalist Laurie Few, "You don't have time not to listen (to the fixer)", and anybody who disregards a fixer's advice "is going to step on a landmine, figurative or actual". Throughout the last 20 years, fixers have ranged from civilians to local journalists within the regions of conflict. They are rarely credited and paid menially, which has begun a conversation for the compensation rights of these individuals. According to statistics gathered from the Global Investigative Journalism Network, the base pay for a fixer's time ranged from US$50–400 per day.


title: Fixer (person)

text: A map based on publicly accessible research data shows a visual representation of data collected from various studies conducted on both fixers and their journalist counterparts from over 70 countries. Gathered from the Global Reporting Centre, the survey demographic map had 132 respondents from North America, 101 from Europe, 23 from South America, Africa and Eurasia, 63 from Asia and 9 from Australia.


title: Fixer (person)

text: Numerous films and several songs have been named "The Fixer", and, as a genre, illustrate the different meanings of the term. Most commonly, they refer to the kind of person who carries out illicit activities on behalf of someone else. For example, the 2008 British television series "The Fixer" is about "a renegade group acting outside the law to bring order to the spiraling criminal activity in the country".


title: Brainly

text: Brainly is a company based in Kraków, Poland, with headquarters in New York City. It is a social learning platform where millions of students and educators solve their academic problems together. Brainly's mission is to inspire students to share and explore knowledge in a collaborative community. It can also be used as a forum for students, parents, and teachers to ask and answer homework questions. The platform has elements of n in the form of points and ranks. It encourages users to engage in the online community by answering other users’ questions. , Brainly reported having 350 million monthly users, making it the world's most popular education app.


title: Brainly

text: Initially called Zadane.pl, the company was founded in 2009 in Poland by Michał Borkowski (current chief executive officer), Tomasz Kraus, and Łukasz Haluch. The first million unique monthly users were achieved within 6 months after the release.


title: Brainly

text: In January 2011, the company founded Znanija.com, the first international project dedicated to Russian language speakers. Several other versions in multiple languages for the following markets included Turkey (eodev.com), Latin America and Spain (brainly.lat), and Brazil (brainly.com.br).


title: Brainly

text: In December 2013, seven new language versions of Brainly were released, including English, Indonesian, Indian and more.


title: Brainly

text: In October 2014, the company announced that it had raised another round of funding from General Catalyst Partners, Runa Capital, and other venture capital firms. The total amount of the investment was $9 million, and the company opened headquarters in New York City.


title: Brainly

text: In May 2016, another funding round of $18 million of combined debt and equity was disclosed. In June 2016, Brainly acquired the US-based OpenStudy.


title: Brainly

text: In January 2018, Brainly announced it had acquired the video education start-up, Bask, to bring video technology to the Brainly platform.


title: Brainly

text: In July 2019, Brainly raised $30 million in a Series C funding round led by Naspers, with participation from Runa Capital and Manta Ray.


title: Brainly

text: In 2020, the company experienced a significant increase in the number of users, caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, from 150 million in 2019 to around 350 million in 2020.


title: Brainly

text: In 2020, numerous users on the Art of Problem Solving website found that Brainly had compromised the integrity of the American Mathematics Competitions after posting the questions on its website with the correct answers. This led to Brainly updating its honor code.


title: Brainly

text: Brainly provides a platform where students, parents, and teachers help others with homework questions. The website is intended to strengthen student's skills across subjects such as English, mathematics, science, and social studies. The platform is utilises a peer-to-peer system where students can ask questions, and answer them for other students. Ranks are provided to students who provide high-quality answers. Users are asked to provide an explanation and a source for the answers they provide. Questions are categorized by subject, respective of country and school level. Each user is given a fixed amount points upon registration, which are used to ask questions. Users can gain points by answering questions posted by others. A leaderboard exists for users who have answered the most questions or earned the most points.


title: Brainly

text: Brainly is moderated by both volunteers and staff and uses machine learning algorithms to filter its Knowledge Base. Moderators are trained users whose answers are excellent in content quality. Moderators are given permissions to respond to users who violate rules, including individuals who plagiarize, post spam, or post assessment questions.


title: Brainly

text: ToS;DR (Terms of Service; Didn't Read), a project which analyzes terms of services (ToS) and privacy policies of websites, ranks Brainly at grade E.


title: Eddie Hall vs. Hafþór Björnsson

text: Eddie Hall vs. Hafþór Björnsson, also known as "The Heaviest Boxing Match in History", was a professional boxing match between strongmen Eddie Hall and Hafþór Björnsson that took place on 19th March 2022. Both have won the strongman competition "World's Strongest Man" owned by IMG Worldwide. It was the first boxing match for Hall, fourth for Bjornsson, and prior to Hall's injury was set to take place on September 18, 2021 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The replacement match in September 2021 was between Björnsson and Devon Larratt in Dubai while the match against Hall was rescheduled to March 19, 2022.


title: Eddie Hall vs. Hafþór Björnsson

text: Hall started the first round with continuous haymakers but Björnsson kept his composure and stuck to the basics, focusing on a solid jab and better footwork. Once Björnsson realized Hall's game plan, he took control of the fight by bludgeoning and knocking down Hall twice to the floor in rounds three and six. Hall sustained bleeding lacerations on top of both eyes and Björnsson won the fight via unanimous decision, having won all but the second round.


title: Eddie Hall vs. Hafþór Björnsson

text: Both Hall and Björnsson went into the fight with numerous accolades in strength athletics. Hall holds the title of 2017 World's Strongest Man and won UK's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man multiple times. Björnsson holds the title of 2018 World's Strongest Man and has placed in the top three positions of the competition every year since 2012. He is also the 2018 World's Ultimate Strongman, 3 times in a row Arnold Strongman Classic champion, 5 times Europe's Strongest Man, 8 times Strongman Champions League champion, 9 times Giants Live champion, and 15 times Iceland’s Strongest Man and Strongest Man in Iceland champion.


title: Eddie Hall vs. Hafþór Björnsson

text: In 2016, Hall set a world record in deadlifting with 500 kg (~1102 lbs) at the 2016 Europe's Strongest Man competition. However, Björnsson deadlifted 501 kg (~1105 lbs) at the 2020 World's Ultimate Strongman - Feats of Strength series and established the current world record.


title: Eddie Hall vs. Hafþór Björnsson

text: On 26th July 2021 an announcement was made that Hall had suffered an injury and therefore the fight would be postponed. Devon Larratt was chosen as the replacement for Hall for the September 18 match to be held in Dubai. Björnsson defeated Larratt in the first round by technical knockout.


title: Yama

text: Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. In Sanskrit, his name can be interpreted to mean "twin".


title: Yama

text: He is also an important deity worshipped by the Kalasha and formerly by the Nuristani peoples, indicating his prominence in ancient Hinduism.


title: Yama

text: In Hinduism, Yama is the son of sun-god Surya and Sanjana, the daughter of Vishvakarma. Yama is the brother of Sraddhadeva Manu and of his older sister Yami, which Horace Hayman Wilson indicates to mean the Yamuna. According to the Vedas, Yama is said to have been the first mortal who died. By virtue of precedence, he became the ruler of the departed, and is called "Lord of the Pitrs".


title: Yama

text: Mentioned in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, Yama subsequently entered Buddhist mythology in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka as a Dharmapala under various transliterations. He is otherwise also called as "Dharmaraja".


title: Yama

text: There is a Chitral district by the Chitral river in the Swat(Suvastu) region in the north-western Indian subcontinent. The language spoken amongst others are "Chitrali" and Kalash. Of note is the fact that even in the remaining currently practiced form of ancient Hinduism in the region, certain deities were revered either in one community/tribe or other. Only one was universally revered as the Creator that is the ancient Hindu god Yama Râja called imr'o in Kâmviri. The ancient region had historical and cultural links to the nearby regions of Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Nooristan. The Srivastu/Suvastu region is also said to be the place of origin of Srivastava clan.


title: Yama

text: Yama (Sanskrit: यम), is the Hindu god of Death and Justice, and is responsible for the dispensation of law and punishment of sinners in his abode, Yamaloka. Yama is also one of the oldest deities in the pantheon and some of his earliest appearances are found in the Rigveda. From there, he has remained a significant deity, appearing in some of the most important texts of Hinduism which include the "Ramayana", the "Mahabharata" and the "Puranas".


title: Yama

text: Yama is also one of the Lokapalas (guardians of the directions), appointed as the protector of the southern direction. Yama is described as having four arms, protruding fangs, and complexion of storm clouds with a wrathful expression; surrounded by a garland of flames; dressed in red, yellow, or blue garments; riding a water-buffalo and holding a sword, noose and a mace to capture the souls of those who have sinned. Legends describe him as the twin of Yamuna, a river goddess associated with life, and the son of the Sun god Surya and Saranyu. Other than Yamuna, he also has many siblings, such as the Ashvins, Shani, Shraddhadeva Manu, Revanta and Tapati. Some of his major appearances include in the tales of the Pandavas, Savitri Satyavan and the sage Markandeya. His assistant is Chitragupta, another deity associated with death.


title: Yama

text: In Buddhism, Yama (Sanskrit: यम) is a dharmapala, a wrathful god or the Enlightened Protector of Buddhism that is considered worldly, said to judge the dead and preside over the Narakas ("Hell" or "Purgatory") and the cycle of rebirth.


title: Yama

text: The Buddhist Yama has, however, developed different myths and different functions from the Hindu deity. In Pali Canon Buddhist myths, Yama takes those who have mistreated elders, holy spirits, or their parents when they die. Contrary though, in the Majjhima Nikaya commentary by Buddhagosa, Yama is a vimānapeta – a preta with occasional suffering.


title: Yama

text: In other parts of Buddhism, Yama's main duty is to watch over purgatorial aspects of Hell (the underworld), and has no relation to rebirth. His sole purpose is to maintain the relationships between spirits that pass through the ten courts, similar to Yama's representation in several Chinese religions.


title: Yama

text: He has also spread widely and is known in every country where Buddhism is practiced, including China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.


title: Yama

text: In Chinese texts, Yama only holds transitional places in Hell where he oversaw the deceased before he, and the Generals of Five Paths, were assigned a course of rebirth. Yama was later placed as a King in the Fifth Court when texts led to the fruition of the underworld that marked the beginnings of systemizations.


title: Yama

text: Yama can be found in one of the oldest Japanese religious works called Nipponkoku Genpō Zenaku Ryōiki, a literary work compiled by the Monk Keikai in 822. Yama was introduced to Japan through Buddhism, where he was featured as a Buddhist divinity. He holds the same position title as other works depict him – a judge who imposes decisions on the dead who have mistreated others.


title: Yama

text: In Sikhism, Yamaraja is referred to as Dharam Rai, Dharam Raj and Dharam Raja (in which, dharma is spelt as dharam instead). In Sikhism, Dharam Rai is considered to be a servant of god instead of a god, who works for god. It is believed that the supreme god, Waheguru had seated Dharam Rai with the task of reading out the being's deeds after the being dies and then assigns them into heaven or hell accordingly. After the perhaps being has spent time in heaven or hell accordingly, then they are assigned to re-enter the 8.4 million life-form cycle again in which they will reincarnate through various lifeforms until they re-attain the human life again. Some Sikhs interpret Dharam Raj literally, however, there are many interpretations where Dharam Raj is representative of the role of the divine judge of actions. The imagery of Yama would have been used in order to explain such a concept to followers of the Sikh Gurus who came from Hindu backgrounds: there is also imagery of the Islamic angel of death that was also used to help followers from Islamic backgrounds. Sikhism does not focus all that much on any type mythology, and rather believes that all mythologies are creations of Waheguru: thus there is not a large focus on them and their details, as Waheguru is the only being to be worshipped. Thus, within the doctrine of Sikhism, Yama represents a divine judge who reads records of people's actions: references to him are more conceptual, rather than the more literal depiction of him in Hindu scripture


title: Yama

text: Those souls who merge into god, become god, and attain full enlightenment or salvation (known as Moksha and Nirvana) will not be judged by Dharam Rai and will go into another heaven known as Sach Khand.


title: Yama

text: Also Dharam Rai is referred to as 'The Righteous Judge of Dharma' in the English translation of the Sikh scriptures. Dharam Rai also has assistants that assist him.


title: Yama

text: "O Nanak, having created the souls, the Lord installed the Righteous Judge of Dharma to read and record their accounts. There, only the Truth is judged true; the sinners are picked out and separated. The false find no place there, and they go to hell with their faces blackened. Those who are imbued with Your Name win, while the cheaters lose. The Lord installed the Righteous Judge of Dharma to read and record the accounts. ||2||"


title: Yama

text: "The Righteous Judge of Dharma, by the Hukam of God's Command, sits and administers True Justice. Those evil souls, ensnared by the love of duality, are subject to Your Command. The souls on their spiritual journey chant and meditate within their minds on the One Lord, the Treasure of Excellence. The Righteous Judge of Dharma serves them; blessed is the Lord who adorns them. ||2||"


title: Yama

text: "The Righteous Judge of Dharma is a creation of the Lord; he does not approach the humble servant of the Lord."


title: Yama

text: "Remembering the Lord in meditation, you shall not be punished by the Messenger of Death. The couriers of the Righteous Judge of Dharma shall not touch you."


title: Yama

text: "The Messenger of Death and the Righteous Judge of Dharma do not even approach the beloved servant of my Lord and Master. ||6||"


title: Yama

text: Naraka is the Hindu equivalent of Hell, where sinners are tormented after death. In Hindu mythology, Naraka holds many hells, and Yama directs departed souls to the appropriate one. Even elevated Mukti-yogyas and Nitya-samsarins can experience Naraka for expiation of sins.


title: Yama

text: Although Yama is the lord of Naraka, he may also direct the soul to a Swarga (heaven) or return it to Bhoomi (earth). As good and bad deeds are not considered to cancel each other out, the same soul may spend time in both a hell and a heaven. The seven Swargas are: Bhuvas, Swas (governed by Indra), Tharus, Thaarus, Savithaa, Prapithaa, and Maha (governed by Brahma).


title: Yama

text: The idea of Naraka in Sikhism is the equivalent of Hell. Naraka or hell in Sikhism is a place where sinners are given various punishments for sins. Each sin has a particular punishment. For a lustful person, there is a door to a fire chamber. There is a doorway for those who had listened to other people's gossip. They are punished by having red hot liquid iron poured into their ears. Liars have their tongues cut off. Thieves have their hands cut off.


title: Yama

text: In the Jātakas the Narakas are mentioned as Yama's abode (referred to in Pali as Yamakkhaya, Yamanivesana, Yamasādana, etc.). It is also noted that all of Samsāra is subject to Yama's rule, and escape from samsāra means escape from Yama's influence.


title: Yama

text: The Vetaranī River is said to form the boundary of Yama's kingdom. Elsewhere, it is referred to as consisting of Ussadaniraya (Pali; Sanskrit: Ussadanaraka), the four woeful planes, or the preta realm.


title: Yama

text: Naraka is usually translated into English as "hell" or "purgatory". A Naraka differs from the hells of western religions in two respects. First, beings are not sent to Naraka as the result of a divine judgment and punishment; second, the length of a being's stay in a Naraka is not eternal, though it is usually very long. Instead, a being is born into a Naraka as a direct result of his or her previous karma (actions of body, speech and mind), and resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has exhausted its cumulate effect.


title: Yama

text: Mandarin Diyu, Japanese Jigoku, Korean Jiok, Vietnamese Địa ngục literally "earth prison", is the realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology and Japanese mythology. It is based upon the Buddhist concept of Naraka combined with local afterlife beliefs. Incorporating ideas from Taoism and Buddhism as well as traditional religion in China, Di Yu is a kind of purgatory place which serves not only to punish but also to renew spirits ready for their next incarnation. This is interchangeable with the concept of Naraka. In Chinese Buddhism, he is also regarded as one of the "Twenty Devas" (二十諸天 Èrshí Zhūtiān) or the "Twenty-Four Devas" (二十四諸天 Èrshísì zhūtiān), a group of protective dharmapalas.