title: Veil

text: Elite women in ancient Mesopotamia and in the Greek and Persian empires wore the veil as a sign of respectability and high status. The earliest attested reference to veiling is found a Middle Assyrian law code dating from between 1400 and 1100 BC. Assyria had explicit sumptuary laws detailing which women must veil and which women must not, depending upon the woman's class, rank, and occupation in society. Female slaves and prostitutes were forbidden to veil and faced harsh penalties if they did so. The Middle Assyrian law code states:§ 40. A wife-of-a-man, or [widows], or [Assyrian] women who go out into the main thoroughfare [shall not have] their heads [bare]. […] A prostitute shall not veil herself, her head shall be bare. Whoever sees a veiled prostitute shall seize her, secure witnesses, and bring her to the palace entrance. They shall not take her jewelry; he who has seized her shall take her clothing; they shall strike her 50 blows with rods; they shall pour hot pitch over her head. And if a man should see a veiled prostitute and release her and not bring her to the palace entrance: they shall strike that man 50 blows with rods; the one who informs against him shall take his clothing; they shall pierce his ears, thread (them) on a cord, tie (it) at his back; he shall perform the king’s service for one full month. Slave-women shall not veil themselves, and he who should see a veiled slave-woman shall seize her and bring her to the palace entrance: they shall cut off her ears; he who seizes her shall take her clothing.Veiling was thus not only a marker of aristocratic rank, but also served to "differentiate between 'respectable' women and those who were publicly available". The veiling of matrons was also customary in ancient Greece. Between 550 and 323 B.C.E respectable women in classical Greek society were expected to seclude themselves and wear clothing that concealed them from the eyes of strange men.


title: Veil

text: The Mycenaean Greek term , "a-pu-ko-wo-ko", possibly meaning "headband makers" or "craftsmen of horse veil", and written in Linear B syllabic script, is also attested since ca. 1300 BC. In ancient Greek the word for veil was ("kalyptra"; Ionic Greek: , "kalyptrē"; from the verb , "kalyptō", "I cover").


title: Veil

text: Classical Greek and Hellenistic statues sometimes depict Greek women with both their head and face covered by a veil. Caroline Galt and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones have both argued from such representations and literary references that it was commonplace for women (at least those of higher status) in ancient Greece to cover their hair and face in public. Roman women were expected to wear veils as a symbol of the husband's authority over his wife; a married woman who omitted the veil was seen as withdrawing herself from marriage. In 166 BC, consul Sulpicius Gallus divorced his wife because she had left the house unveiled, thus allowing all to see, as he said, what only he should see. Unmarried girls normally didn't veil their heads, but matrons did so to show their modesty and chastity, their "pudicitia". Veils also protected women against the evil eye, it was thought.


title: Veil

text: A veil called "flammeum" was the most prominent feature of the costume worn by the bride at Roman weddings. The veil was a deep yellow color reminiscent of a candle flame. The "flammeum" also evoked the veil of the Flaminica Dialis, the Roman priestess who could not divorce her husband, the high priest of Jupiter, and thus was seen as a good omen for lifelong fidelity to one man. The Romans apparently thought of the bride as being "clouded over with a veil" and connected the verb "nubere" (to be married) with "nubes", the word for cloud.


title: Veil

text: Intermixing of populations resulted in a convergence of the cultural practices of Greek, Persian, and Mesopotamian empires and the Semitic peoples of the Middle East. With the spread of Christianity, the ordinance of headcovering by women became normative throughout Christendom due to the fact that it was enjoined in the Bible and by the Church Fathers. Veiling and seclusion of women appear to have established themselves among Jews and Christians, before spreading to urban Arabs of the upper classes and eventually among the urban masses. In the rural areas it was common to cover the hair, but not the face.


title: Veil

text: For many centuries, until around 1175, Anglo-Saxon and then Anglo-Norman women, with the exception of young unmarried girls, wore veils that entirely covered their hair, and often their necks up to their chins (see wimple). Only in the Tudor period (1485), when hoods became increasingly popular, did veils of this type become less common. This varied greatly from one country to another. In Italy, veils, including face veils, were worn in some regions until the 1970s. Women in southern Italy often covered their heads to show that they were modest, well-behaved and pious. They generally wore a "cuffia" (cap), then the "fazzoletto" (kerchief/head scarves) a long triangular or rectangular piece of cloth that could be tied in various ways, and sometimes covered the whole face except the eyes, sometimes "bende (lit. swaddles, bandages)" or a wimple underneath too.


title: Veil

text: For centuries, European women have worn sheer veils, but only under certain circumstances. Sometimes a veil of this type was draped over and pinned to the bonnet or hat of a woman in mourning, especially at the funeral and during the subsequent period of "high mourning". They would also have been used, as an alternative to a mask, as a simple method of hiding the identity of a woman who was traveling to meet a lover, or doing anything she didn't want other people to find out about. More pragmatically, veils were also sometimes worn to protect the complexion from sun and wind damage (when untanned skin was fashionable), or to keep dust out of a woman's face, much as the keffiyeh (worn by men) is used today.


title: Veil

text: In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam the concept of covering the head is or was associated with propriety and modesty. Most traditional depictions of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ, show her veiled. During the Middle Ages most European married women covered their hair rather than their face, with a variety of styles of wimple, kerchiefs and headscarves. Veiling, covering the hair, rather than the face, is a common practice among church-going women. While in the Western world this practice largely lapsed in the 1960s with the rise of the sexual revolution, traditional congregations, such as those of Conservative Anabaptists and Traditional Catholics, continue observing the ordinance of headcovering. Lace face-veils are often worn by female relatives at funerals in some Catholic countries. In Orthodox Judaism, married women cover their hair for reasons of modesty; many Orthodox Jewish women wear headscarves (tichel) for this purpose.


title: Veil

text: Christian Byzantine literature expressed rigid norms pertaining to veiling of women, which have been influenced by Persian traditions, although there is evidence to suggest that they differed significantly from actual practice. Since Islam identified with the monotheistic religions practiced in the Byzantine and Sassanian empires, in the aftermath of the early Muslim conquests veiling of women was adopted as an appropriate expression of Qur'anic ideals regarding modesty and piety. Veiling gradually spread to upper-class Arab women, and eventually, it became widespread among Muslim women in cities throughout the Middle East. Veiling of Arab Muslim women became especially pervasive under Ottoman rule as a mark of rank and exclusive lifestyle, and Istanbul of the 17th century witnessed differentiated dress styles that reflected geographical and occupational identities. Women in rural areas were much slower to adopt veiling because the garments interfered with their work in the fields. Since wearing a veil was impractical for working women, "a veiled woman silently announced that her husband was rich enough to keep her idle." By the 19th century, upper-class urban Muslim and Christian women in Egypt wore a garment which included a head cover and a "burqa" (muslin cloth that covered the lower nose and the mouth). Up to the first half of the twentieth century, rural women in the Maghreb and Egypt put on a face veil when they visited urban areas, "as a sign of civilization". The practice of veiling gradually declined in much of the Muslim world during the 20th century before making a comeback in recent decades The choice, or the forced option for women to veil remains controversial, whether a personal choice as an outward sign of religious devotion, or a forced one because of extremist groups that require a veil, under severe penalty, even death. The motives and reasons for wearing a hijab are wide and various, but ultimately depend on each individual person's situation and can not be said to come from any one distinct reason or motive. Although religion can be a common reason for choosing to veil, the practice also reflects political and personal conviction, so that it can serve as a medium through which personal choices can be revealed, in countries where veiling is indeed a choice, such as Turkey.


title: Veil

text: Among the Tuareg, Songhai, Hausa, and Fulani of West Africa, women do not traditionally wear the veil, while men do. Male veiling was also common among the Berber Sanhaja tribes. The North African male veil, which covers the mouth and sometimes part of the nose, is called "litham" in Arabic and "tagelmust" by the Tuareg. Tuareg boys start wearing the veil at the onset of puberty and veiling is regarded as a mark of manhood. It is considered improper for a man to appear unveiled in front of elders, especially those from his wife's family.


title: Veil

text: Ancient African rock engravings depicting human faces with eyes but no mouth or nose suggest that the origins of litham are not only pre-Islamic but even pre-historic. Wearing of the litham is not viewed as a religious requirement, although it was apparently believed to provide magical protection against evil forces. In practice, the litham has served as protection from the dust and extremes of temperature characterizing the desert environment. Its use by the Almoravids gave it a political significance during their conquests.


title: Veil

text: In some parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, men wear a "sehra" on their wedding day. This is a male veil covering the whole face and neck. The sehra is made from either flowers or beads. The most common Sehra (headdress) is made from fresh marigolds. The groom wears this throughout the day concealing his face even during the wedding ceremony. In Northern India today, grooms can be seen arriving on a horse with the sehra wrapped around the head.


title: Veil

text: Note: , which the King James Version renders as: "And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: Behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: Thus, she was reproved" has been interpreted in one source as implied advice to Sarah to conform to a supposed custom of married women, and wear a complete veil, covering the eyes as well as the rest of the face, but the phrase is generally taken to refer not to Sarah's eyes, but to the eyes of others, and to be merely a metaphorical expression concerning vindication of Sarah (NASB, RSV), silencing criticism (GWT), allaying suspicions (NJB), righting a wrong (BBE, NLT), covering or recompensing the problem caused her (NIV, New Life Version, NIRV, TNIV, JB), a sign of her innocence (ESV, CEV, HCSB). The final phrase in the verse, which KJV takes to mean, "she was reproved", is taken by almost all other versions to mean instead, "she was vindicated", and the word "הוא", which KJV interprets as "he" (Abraham), is interpreted as "it" (the money). Thus, the general view is that this passage has nothing to do with material veils.


title: Veil

text: After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the synagogues that were established took the design of the Tabernacle as their plan. The Ark of the Law, which contains the scrolls of the Torah, is covered with an embroidered curtain or veil called a "parokhet". (See also below regarding the traditional Jewish custom of veiling – and unveiling – the bride.)


title: Veil

text: Traditionally, in Christianity, women were enjoined to cover their heads, and men were instructed to remove their hat when praying or prophesying. Wearing a veil (also known as a headcovering) is seen as a sign of humility before God, as well as a reminder of the bridal relationship between Christ and the church. This practice is based on in the Christian Bible, where St. Paul writes:


title: Veil

text: The early Church Fathers, including Tertullian of Carthage, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus of Rome, John Chrysostom and Augustine of Hippo attested in their writings that men should pray uncovered, and that women should wear a headcovering. John Chrysostom (407) delineated Saint Paul's teaching on the wearing of headcoverings by Christian women, continually:


title: Veil

text: Additionally, the Church Fathers taught that because the hair of a woman has sexual potency, it should only be for her husband to see and covered the rest of the time.


title: Veil

text: In Western Europe and North America, from the arrival of Christianity to those lands to the mid-20th century, women in most mainstream Christian denominations wore head coverings (often in the form of a scarf, cap, veil or hat). These included many Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, and Reformed (including Continental Reformed, Congregationalist and Presbyterian traditions) Churches. In these denominations, the practice now continues in certain congregations and by individuals who have sought to follow the precedent set in Scripture and church history.


title: Veil

text: Christian veiling throughout the day is still practiced by those who wear plain dress, such as traditional Anabaptists including Mennonites (Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites), Hutterites, Schwarzenau Brethren (Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren and Dunkard Brethren Church), River Brethren (Old Order River Brethren and Calvary Holiness Church), Apostolic Christians, Amish (Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Para-Amish and Beachy Amish), and Charity Christians, as well as Conservative Quakers.


title: Veil

text: Many Holiness Christians who practice the doctrine of outward holiness, also practice headcovering (such as the Calvary Holiness Church). The Plymouth Brethren and conservative Reformed and Presbyterian churches, along with Traditionalist Catholics, practice headcovering when praying at home and while attending public liturgies. In many Oriental Orthodox Churches and certain Eastern Orthodox congregations, the custom of women's covering their heads continues in church (and when praying privately at home).


title: Veil

text: A veil over the hair rather than the face forms part of the headdress of some orders of nuns or religious sisters in Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism; this is why a woman who becomes a nun is said "to take the veil". In medieval times married women normally covered their hair outside the house, and a nun's veil is based on secular medieval styles, often reflecting the fashion of widows in their attire. In many institutes, a white veil is used as the "veil of probation" during novitiate, and a dark veil for the "veil of profession" once religious vows are taken; the color scheme varies with the color scheme of the habit of the order.


title: Veil

text: A veil of consecration, longer and fuller, is used by some orders whose nuns receive the consecration of virgins who are already in solemn vows or who are being consecrated as a virgin in the same ceremony. References to "consecrated nuns" in medieval literature refers to solemnly professed nuns who received the solemn consecration of virgins from their bishops, usually some years after their final profession of vows. Nuns who receive the consecration of virgins may or may not be distinguished from other nuns depending on the customs of their order.


title: Veil

text: After the promulgation of Pope Paul's VI. decree "Perfectae caritatis" on the adaption and renewal of religious life most monastic orders for nuns retained the veil. Regarding other institutes of religious sisters who are not cloistered but who work as teachers, nurses or in other active apostolates outside of a nunnery or monastery, some wear the veil, while some others have abolished the use of the veil.


title: Veil

text: The fullest versions of the nun's veil cover the top of the head and flow down around and over the shoulders. In western Christianity, it does not wrap around the neck or face. In those orders that retain one, the starched white covering about the face, neck, and shoulders is known as a wimple and is a separate garment.


title: Veil

text: The Catholic Church has revived the ancient practice of women to be consecrated by their bishop as a consecrated virgin living in the world. These virgins are set aside as sacred persons who belong only to Christ and the service of the church. The veil is a bridal one, because the velatio virginum primarily signified the newly consecrated virgin as the Bride of Christ. In ancient times his veil was called the "flammeum" because it was supposed to remind the virgin of the indissoluble nuptial bond she was contracting with Christ. The wearing of the "flammeum" for the sacred virgin Bride of Christ arose from the bridal attire of the strictest pagan marriage which did not permit of divorce at the time. The flammeum was a visible reminder that divorce was not possible with Christ, their Divine Spouse.


title: Veil

text: Some Lutheran and Anglican women's religious orders also wear a veil, differing according to the traditions of each order.


title: Veil

text: In Eastern Orthodoxy and in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, a veil called an "epanokamelavkion" is used by both nuns and monks, in both cases covering completely the "kamilavkion", a cylindrical hat they both wear. In Slavic practice, when the veil is worn over the hat, the entire headdress is referred to as a "klobuk". Nuns wear an additional veil under the "klobuk", called an "apostolnik", which is drawn together to cover the neck and shoulders as well as the head, leaving the face itself open.


title: Veil

text: Among Christian churches which have a liturgical tradition, several different types of veils are used. These veils are often symbolically tied to the veils in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon's Temple. The purpose of these veils was not so much to obscure as to shield the most sacred things from the eyes of sinful men. In Solomon's Temple the veil was placed between the "Inner Sanctuary" and the "Holy of Holies". According to the New Testament, this veil was torn when Jesus Christ died on the cross.


title: Veil

text: The Veil of our Lady is a liturgical feast celebrating the protection afforded by the intercessions of the Virgin Mary.


title: Veil

text: A variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women and girls in accordance with "hijab" (the principle of dressing modestly) are sometimes referred to as veils. The principal aim of the Muslim veil is to cover the "Awrah" (parts of the body that are considered private). Many of these garments cover the hair, ears, and throat, but do not cover the face.


title: Veil

text: Depending on geography and culture, the veil is referenced and worn in different ways. The "khimar" is a type of headscarf. The "niqāb" and "burqa" are two kinds of veils that cover most of the face except for a slit or hole for the eyes. In Algeria, a larger veil called the "haïk" includes a triangular panel to cover the lower part of the face. In the Arabian Peninsula and parts of North Africa (specifically Saudi Arabia), the abaya is worn constructed like a loose robe covering everything but the face itself. In another location, such as Iran, the chador is worn as the semicircles of fabric are draped over the head like a shawl and held in place under the neck by hand. The two terms for veiling that are directly mentioned in the Quran is the jilbab and the khimar. In these references, the veiling is meant to promote modesty by covering the genitals and breasts of women.


title: Veil

text: The Afghan burqa covers the entire body, obscuring the face completely, except for a grille or netting over the eyes to allow the wearer to see. The "boshiya" is a veil that may be worn over a headscarf; it covers the entire face and is made of a sheer fabric so the wearer is able to see through it. It has been suggested that the practice of wearing a veil – uncommon among the Arab tribes prior to the rise of Islam – originated in the Byzantine Empire, and then spread.


title: Veil

text: The Bedouin living in Southern Palestine and the Sinai peninsula also use face veils. The traditional veils in Palestine are short and decorated with coins. In northern Sinai, the veil sections are longer, and often contain embroidery, chains, pendants, beads, … The Bedouin-style mask is known as al-maghrun, al-baghrah, or al-niqab.


title: Veil

text: In the UAE, Qatar and Oman, a face mask known as the burghu is used, and Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, the batulah is used.


title: Veil

text: In Central Asian sedentary Muslim areas (today Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) women wore veils which when worn the entire face was shrouded, called Paranja or faranji. The traditional veil in Central Asia worn before modern times was the faranji but it was banned by the Soviet Communists.


title: Veil

text: In Pakistan, upper and middle-class women in towns wear burqas over their normal clothes in public. The burqa is the most visible dress in Pakistan. It is typically a tent-like garment worn over the ordinary clothes and is made of white cotton. Many upper-class women wear a two-piece burqa which is usually black in colour but sometimes navy blue or dark red. It consists of a long cloak and a separate headpiece with a drop-down face veil. Some educated urban women no longer wear the burqa. The burqa is also not worn by rural peasant women who work in the fields. In rural areas only elite women wear burqas.


title: Veil

text: The wearing of head and especially face coverings by Muslim women has raised political issues in the West; including in Quebec, and across Europe. Countries and territories that have banned or partially banned the veil include, among others:


title: Veil

text: In Indian subcontinent, from 1st century B.C. societies advocated the use of the veil for married Hindu women which came to be known as Ghoonghat. Buddhists attempted to counter this growing practice around 3rd century CE. Rational opposition against veiling and seclusion from spirited ladies resulted in system not becoming popular for several centuries. Under the Medieval Islamic Mughal Empire, various aspects of veiling and seclusion of women was adopted, such as the concept of Purdah and Zenana, partly as an additional protection for women. Purdah became common in the 15th and 16th century, as both "Vidyāpati" and "Chaitanya" mention it.


title: Veil

text: Sikhism was highly critical of all forms of strict veiling, Guru Amar Das condemned it and rejected seclusion and veiling of women, which saw decline of veiling among some classes during late medieval period. This was stressed by Bhagat Kabir.


title: Veil

text: The veil is one of the oldest parts of a bridal ensemble, dating as far back as Greek and Roman times, to hide a bride "from evil spirits who might want to thwart her happiness" or to frighten the spirits away. The veil also served to hide the bride's face from the groom prior to the wedding, as superstition says that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony.


title: Veil

text: In the context of weddings in Western Christian culture, the veil has been used to symbolize modesty before God, obedience, and when the veil is white, chastity. By the 17th and 18th century, bridal veils were occasionally worn, but were generally out of fashion in Britain and North America, with brides choosing from many other options instead. However, the bridal veil returned to popularity after Queen Victoria wore a veil in her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. The bridal veil became a status symbol during the Victorian era, and the weight, length, and quality of the veil indicated the bride's social status. Bridal veils worn over the face were not common until the second half of the 19th century.


title: Veil

text: The tradition of a veiled bride's face continues today wherein, a virgin bride, especially in Christian or Jewish culture, enters the marriage ritual with a veiled face and head, and remains fully veiled, both head and face, until the ceremony concludes. After the full conclusion of the wedding ceremony, either the bride's father lifts the veil, presenting the bride to the groom who then kisses her, or the new groom lifts her face veil in order to kiss her. Some see the lifting of the veil as symbolically consummating the marriage, representing another thin membrane (the hymen) that will be physically penetrated on the wedding night. In Orthodox Judaism, as well as among Christians in certain parts of the world such as Eastern Europe, women will then wear a headcovering in public after being married (as well as while worshipping).


title: Veil

text: In some modern weddings, the lifting of the veil at the conclusion of the ceremony to present the bride to the groom may not occur, since it may be considered sexist for the bride to have her face covered through the ceremony, whether or not the veil is worn to symbolize virginity. Often the veil is worn solely as a fashion accessory as part of the bridal attire, instead of for its symbolism. A bridal veil is not normally worn during a civil marriage ceremony, nor when the bride is remarrying.


title: Veil

text: In Scandinavia, the bridal veil is usually worn under a traditional crown and does not cover the bride's face; instead, the veil is attached to and hangs from the back.


title: Veil

text: In Judaism, the tradition of the bride wearing a veil during the wedding ceremony dates back to biblical times. According to the Torah in , Isaac is brought Rebekah to marry by his father Abraham's servant, and Rebekah took her veil and covered herself when Isaac was approaching.


title: Veil

text: In a traditional Jewish wedding, just before the ceremony, the "badeken" takes place, at which the groom places the veil over the bride's face, and either he or the officiating rabbi gives her a blessing. The veil stays on her face until just before the end of the wedding ceremony – when they are legally married according to Jewish law – then the groom helps lift the veil off her face. The most often cited interpretation for the "badeken" is that, according to , when Jacob went to marry Rachel, his father-in-law Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, Rachel's older and homelier sister.


title: Veil

text: Many say that the veiling ceremony takes place to make sure that the groom is marrying the right bride. Some say that as the groom places the veil over his bride, he makes an implicit promise to clothe and protect her. Finally, by covering her face, the groom recognizes that he is marrying the bride for her inner beauty; while looks will fade with time, his love will be everlasting. In some ultra-orthodox communities, it is a custom for the bride to wear an opaque veil as she is escorted to the groom. This is said to show her complete willingness to enter into the marriage and her absolute trust that she is marrying the right man.


title: Veil

text: In ancient Judaism, the lifting of the veil took place just prior to the consummation of the marriage in sexual union. The uncovering or unveiling that takes place in the wedding ceremony is a symbol of what will take place in the marriage bed. Just as the two become one through their words spoken in wedding vows, so these words are a sign of the physical oneness that they will consummate later on. The lifting of the veil is a symbol and anticipation of this.


title: Veil

text: In Christian theology, St. Paul's words concerning how marriage symbolizes the union of Christ and His Church underlie part of the tradition of veiling in the marriage ceremony. In historic Christian traditions, the veil is seen as "a visible sign that the woman is under the authority of a man" and that she is submitting herself to her husband's Christ-like leadership and loving care.


title: Veil

text: The removing of the veil can be seen as a symbol of the temple veil that was torn when Christ died, giving believers direct access to God, and in the same way, the bride and the groom, once married, now have full access to one another.


title: Veil

text: In 2019 a letter by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors, Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, declared that "Veiling the faces of deceased, 'endowed' [members who have been through a temple ceremony] women prior to burial is optional"; previously it had been required. The letter went on to say that such veiling, "may be done if the sister expressed such a desire while she was living. In cases where the wishes of the deceased sister on this matter are not known, her family should be consulted." That same year veiling of women during part of the temple endowment ceremony was also made optional where it had been required before.


title: Veil

text: Veils remained a part of Western mourning dress customs into the early 20th century. The tradition of widow's veiling has its roots in the attire of a Christian nun, which symbolized modesty and chastity, and the mourning veil became a way to demonstrate sincerity and piety. The mourning veil was commonly seen as a means of shielding the mourner and hiding her grief, and, on the contrary, seen by some women as a means of publicly expressing their emotions. Widows in the Victorian era were expected to wear mourning veils for at least three months and up to two and a half years, depending on the custom.


title: Veil

text: Mourning veils have also been sometimes perceived as expressions of elegance or even sex appeal. In a 19th-century American etiquette book one finds: "Black is becoming, and young widows, fair, plump, and smiling, with their roguish eyes sparkling under their black veils are very seducing".


title: Veil

text: One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to honor a person, object or space. The actual sociocultural, psychological, and sociosexual functions of veils have not been studied extensively but most likely include the maintenance of social distance and the communication of social status and cultural identity.


title: Veil

text: A veil also has symbolic interpretations, as something partially concealing, disguising, or obscuring.


title: Veil

text: China has a long tradition of wearing veils. Veils were used to cover the face and had been used since the Han dynasty, where it was called "facial clothes" or "facial hats"; they were used to protect its wearer's face from the wind and sand when they would ride horses or when they would travel on long trips. In the Tang dynasty, mili and weimao were used to cover the face when horse riding. In the Song dynasty, women would wear a veiled hat or veil when they left their houses, honggaitou on their wedding, a veil called 'white jade silk' during their mourning period.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Homer Lusk Collyer (November 6, 1881March 21, 1947) and Langley Wakeman Collyer (October 3, 1885), known as the Collyer brothers, were two American brothers who became infamous for their bizarre natures and compulsive hoarding. The two lived in seclusion in their Harlem brownstone at 2078 Fifth Avenue (at the corner of 128th Street) in New York City where they obsessively collected books, furniture, musical instruments, and myriad other items, with booby traps set up in corridors and doorways to crush intruders. Both died in their home in March 1947 and were found dead (Homer on March 21, Langley not until April 8) surrounded by more than 140 tons of collected items that they had amassed over several decades.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Since the 1960s, the site of the former Collyer house has been a pocket park, named for the brothers.


title: Collyer brothers

text: The Collyer brothers were sons of Herman Livingston Collyer (1857–1923), a Manhattan gynecologist who worked at Bellevue Hospital, and his first cousin, Susie Gage Frost Collyer (1856–1929), a former opera singer. The brothers claimed that their ancestors had traveled to America from England on the "Fortune", the ship that arrived in Massachusetts a year after the "Mayflower" in 1621. The Collyers' mother and father were both descended from the Livingstons, a New York family with roots going back to the 18th century. Robert Livingston was the first of the Livingston family to immigrate to America in 1672 — 52 years after the "Mayflower". In 1880, Herman and Susie had their first child, a daughter, that they named Susan who died at four months old. The following year, on November 6, the couple's first son, Homer Lusk, was born. In 1885 their second son, Langley Wakeman, was born. At the time of Langley's birth, the couple was living in a tenement while Herman Collyer interned at Bellevue. As a child, Homer attended PS (Public School) 69. At the age of 14, he was accepted to the College of the City of New York as a "sub-freshman", earning his bachelor's degree six years later.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Both Homer and Langley attended Columbia University, which had just relocated to its present-day Morningside Heights campus. Homer obtained a degree in admiralty law, while Langley studied engineering and chemistry. Langley was also an accomplished concert pianist; he played professionally for a time and performed at Carnegie Hall. Langley was also a layman of the Trinity Church where the family had been parishioners since 1697.


title: Collyer brothers

text: In 1909, Herman Collyer moved the family into a four-story brownstone in the Harlem neighborhood at 2078 Fifth Avenue. Dr. Collyer was known to be eccentric and was said to frequently paddle down the East River in a canoe to the City Hospital on Blackwell's Island, where he occasionally worked, and then to carry the canoe back to his home in Harlem after he came ashore on Manhattan Island. Around 1919, Herman and Susie Collyer separated. Dr. Collyer moved to a new home at 153 West 77th Street while Susie Collyer stayed in the Harlem brownstone. Homer and Langley, who had never married or lived on their own, chose to remain with their mother. Dr. Collyer died in 1923, leaving his sons all of his possessions, including items from his medical practice, which they brought to their home in Harlem. Susie Collyer died in 1929, leaving the brothers all her possessions and the Harlem brownstone.


title: Collyer brothers

text: After their mother's death, the Collyer brothers continued to live together in the Harlem brownstone they inherited. For the next four years, the brothers socialized with others and left their home on a regular basis. Homer continued to practice law while Langley worked as a piano dealer. Both also taught Sunday school at the Trinity Church. In 1933, Homer lost his eyesight due to hemorrhages in the back of his eyes. Langley quit his job to care for his brother and the two began to withdraw from society. As time progressed, the brothers became fearful due to changes in the neighborhood; the largely upper-class area changed dramatically due to the economic effects of the Great Depression. The brothers were also uncomfortable with the shift in racial demographics, as more African Americans moved into the once-empty apartment houses that were built near a projected subway route. When later asked why the two chose to shut themselves off from the world, Langley Collyer replied, "We don't want to be bothered."


title: Collyer brothers

text: As rumors about the brothers' unconventional lifestyle spread throughout Harlem, crowds began to congregate outside their home. The attention caused the brothers' fears to increase along with their eccentricities. After teenagers threw rocks at their windows, they boarded them up and wired the doors shut. After unfounded rumors spread throughout the neighborhood that the brothers' home contained valuables and large sums of money, several people attempted to rob the home. In an attempt to exclude burglars, Langley used his engineering skills to construct booby traps and tunnels among the collection of items and trash that filled the house. The house soon became a maze of boxes, complicated tunnel systems consisting of junk and trash rigged with trip wires. Homer and Langley Collyer lived in "nests" created amongst the debris that was piled to the ceiling.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Langley spent the majority of his time tinkering with various inventions, such as a device to vacuum the inside of pianos and a Model T Ford adapted to generate electricity. He also cared for his brother Homer. Langley later told a reporter that he fed and bathed his brother, read him classic literature, as he could no longer see, and played piano sonatas for him. He also tended to Homer's health and was determined to cure his brother's physical ailments through "diet and rest". Langley concocted a diet for his brother consisting of one hundred oranges a week, black bread, and peanut butter, claiming that this regimen was curing Homer's blindness. After Homer became paralyzed due to inflammatory rheumatism, he refused to seek professional medical treatment, because both brothers distrusted doctors. The brothers feared that if Homer sought medical attention, doctors would cut his optic nerve, leaving him permanently blind, and give him drugs that would hasten his death. Langley Collyer later told a reporter, "You must remember that we are the sons of a doctor. We have a medical library of 15,000 books in the house. We decided we would not call in any doctors. You see, we knew too much about medicine."


title: Collyer brothers

text: Langley began venturing out of the house only after midnight and would walk miles all over the city to get food, sometimes going as far as the Williamsburg, Brooklyn section of the city to buy as little as a loaf of bread. He would also pick food out of the garbage and collect food that was going to be thrown out by grocers and butchers to bring back to his brother Homer.


title: Collyer brothers

text: By the early 1930s, the Collyer brothers' brownstone had fallen into disrepair. Their telephone was disconnected in 1937 and was never reconnected, as the brothers said they had no one to talk to. Because the brothers failed to pay their bills, the electricity, water, and gas were turned off in 1938. They took to warming the large house using only a small kerosene heater. For a time, Langley attempted to generate electricity by means of a car engine. Langley would fetch their water from a pump in a nearby park. Their only link to the outside world was via a crystal radio that Langley made.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Neighbors and shopkeepers in the area described Langley Collyer as a generally polite and rational man, but added that he was "crazy". A reporter who interviewed Langley in 1942 described him as a "soft-spoken old gentleman with a liking for privacy" who spoke in a "low, polite and cultivated voice". His appearance was disheveled; he sported a droopy mustache, wore a 1910 boating cap and his tattered clothes were held together by pins. While Langley Collyer ventured out of the home and occasionally interacted with other people, Homer had scarcely been seen or heard from since he went blind and retreated from the world in 1933. Langley was fiercely protective of Homer and would not allow anyone to see or speak to him. When he caught neighbors attempting to peek into their windows from a neighboring home, Langley bought the property for $7,500 cash. When a small fire broke out in the home in 1941, Langley refused to let firemen who extinguished the fire see or speak to his brother.


title: Collyer brothers

text: In 1932, shortly before Homer Collyer went blind, he purchased the lot across the street from their house at 2077 Fifth Avenue, with the intent of developing it by putting up an apartment building, but after the onset of his blindness, any plans of profit from the real estate venture ended. Since the Collyer brothers never paid any of their bills and stopped paying income taxes in 1931, the property was repossessed by the City of New York in 1943 to pay the $1,900 in back income taxes that the Collyers owed the city. Langley protested the repossession of their property, saying that since they had no income, they should not have to pay income taxes.


title: Collyer brothers

text: While rumors and legends abounded in Harlem about the brothers, they came to wider attention when, in 1938, a story about their refusal to sell their home to a real estate agent for $125,000 appeared in "The New York Times". The "Times" repeated information about the brothers' hoarding and also repeated neighborhood rumors that the brothers lived in some sort of "Orientalist splendor" and were sitting on vast piles of cash, afraid to deposit it in a bank. Neither rumor was true; however, the brothers were not insolvent.


title: Collyer brothers

text: After "The New York Times" story ran, Helen Worden, a reporter from "New York World-Telegram", became interested in the brothers and interviewed Langley Collyer (Worden would release a book about the brothers in 1954). Langley told Worden that he stopped playing piano professionally after performing at Carnegie Hall, because "Paderewski followed me. He got better notices than I. What was the use of going on?" Langley explained that he dressed in shabby clothing, because "[T]hey would rob me if I didn't".


title: Collyer brothers

text: The Collyer brothers made the news again when, in 1939, workers from Consolidated Edison attempted to force their way into the house to remove two gas meters that had been shut off in 1928, and were met with hostility from the reclusive brothers. The incident, publicized in the local press, reportedly drew a crowd of a thousand curious onlookers and was one of the few times Homer was seen outside their apartment. The brothers drew media attention again in August 1942 when the Bowery Savings Bank threatened to evict the Collyers for failing to pay their mortgage for three years. That same year, "New York Herald Tribune" reporter Herbert Clyde Lewis interviewed Langley. In response to a query about the bundles of newspapers that were kept in the brothers' home, Langley replied, "I am saving newspapers for Homer, so that when he regains his sight he can catch up on the news."


title: Collyer brothers

text: In November 1942, the Bowery Savings Bank began eviction procedures and sent a cleanup crew to the home. Langley began yelling at the workers, prompting the neighbors to summon the police. When the police attempted to force their way into the home by smashing down the front door, they were stymied by a sheer wall of junk piled from floor to ceiling. They found Langley Collyer in a clearing he had made in the middle of the debris. Without comment, Langley made out a check for $6,700 ( equivalent of $), paying off the mortgage in full in a single payment. He then ordered everyone off the premises, and withdrew from outside scrutiny once more, emerging only at night when he wanted to file criminal complaints against intruders, get food, or collect items that piqued his interest.


title: Collyer brothers

text: On March 21, 1947, an anonymous tipster who identified himself only as "Charles Smith" phoned the 122nd Police Precinct and insisted there was a dead body in the house. The caller claimed that the smell of decomposition was emanating from the house. As the police were used to calls from neighbors about the Collyer brothers' home, a patrol officer was dispatched. The responding officer initially had a difficult time getting into the house. There was no doorbell or telephone and the doors were locked; and though the basement windows were broken, they were protected by iron grillwork. An emergency squad of seven men eventually had no choice but to begin pulling out all of the junk that was blocking their way and throw it out onto the street below. The brownstone's foyer was packed solid by a wall of old newspapers, folding beds and chairs, half a sewing machine, boxes, parts of a wine press, and numerous other pieces of junk. A patrolman finally broke in through a window into a second-story bedroom. Behind this window lay, among other things, more packages and newspaper bundles, empty cardboard boxes lashed together with rope, the frame of a baby carriage, a rake, and old umbrellas tied together. After five hours of digging, Homer Collyer's body was found in an alcove surrounded by filled boxes and newspapers that were piled to the ceiling. Homer was wearing a tattered blue-and-white bathrobe, his matted, grey hair reached his shoulders, and his head was resting on his knees.


title: Collyer brothers

text: The medical examiner confirmed Homer's identity and said that the elder brother had been dead for approximately ten hours. According to the medical examiner, Homer died from starvation and heart disease. Police initially suspected that Langley Collyer was the man who phoned in the anonymous tip regarding his brother's death and theorized that he fled the house before police arrived. It was later discovered that, in fact, a neighbor had called police based on a rumor he had heard. A police officer was posted outside the home to wait for Langley, but he never arrived. Police began to suspect that Langley was dead when he failed to attend Homer's funeral, held on April 1.


title: Collyer brothers

text: After the discovery of Homer Collyer's body, rumors began circulating that Langley had been seen aboard a bus heading for Atlantic City. A manhunt along the New Jersey shore turned up nothing. Reports of Langley sightings led police to a total of nine states. The police continued searching the house, removing 3,000 books, including several outdated phone books, a horse's jawbone, a Steinway piano, an early X-ray machine, and more bundles of newspapers. More than nineteen tons of junk were removed from the ground floor of the brownstone. The police continued to clear away the brothers' stockpile for another week, removing another eighty-four tons of trash and junk from the house. Although a good deal of the junk came from their father's medical practice, a considerable portion was discarded items collected by Langley over the years. Approximately 2,000 people stood outside the home to watch the clean-up effort.


title: Collyer brothers

text: On April 8, 1947, a workman found the body of Langley Collyer ten feet from where Homer had died. Langley was found in a two-foot (60 cm) wide tunnel lined with rusty bed springs and a chest of drawers. His decomposing body, which was the actual source of the smell reported by the anonymous tipster, had been partially eaten by rats and was covered by a suitcase, bundles of newspapers and three metal bread boxes. The medical examiner determined that Langley had died around March 9. Police theorized that Langley was crawling through the tunnel to take food to his paralyzed brother when he inadvertently tripped a booby trap he had created and was crushed by debris. His death was attributed to asphyxiation.


title: Collyer brothers

text: The brothers were buried next to their parents in unmarked graves at Cypress Hills Cemetery, in the Brooklyn borough.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Police and workmen removed approximately 120 tons of valuables, junk and other items from the Collyer brownstone. Items were removed from the house such as baby carriages, a doll carriage, rusted bicycles, old food, potato peelers, a collection of guns, glass chandeliers, bowling balls, camera equipment, the folding top of a horse-drawn carriage, a sawhorse, three body forms, painted portraits, photos of pin-up girls from the early 1900s, plaster busts, Mrs. Collyer's hope chests, rusty bed springs, the kerosene stove, a child's chair (the brothers were lifelong bachelors and childless), more than 25,000 books (including thousands about medicine and engineering and more than 2,500 on law), human organs pickled in jars, eight live cats, the chassis of the old Model T with which Langley had been tinkering, tapestries, hundreds of yards of unused silks and other fabrics, clocks, fourteen pianos (both grand and upright), a clavichord, two organs, banjos, violins, bugles, accordions, a gramophone and records, and countless bundles of newspapers and magazines, some of them decades old, and thousands of bottles and tin cans and a great deal of garbage. Near the spot where Homer had died, police also found 34 bank account passbooks, with a total of $3,007 (about $ as of 2022).


title: Collyer brothers

text: Some of the more unusual items found in the home were exhibited at Hubert's Dime Museum, where they were featured alongside Human Marvels and sideshow performers. The centerpiece of this display was the chair in which Homer Collyer had died. The Collyer chair passed into the hands of private collectors upon being removed from public exhibit in 1956.


title: Collyer brothers

text: The house, having long gone without maintenance, was decaying: the roof leaked and some walls had caved in, showering bricks and mortar on the rooms below. The house was deemed "unsafe and [a] fire hazard" in July 1947 and was razed later that month.


title: Collyer brothers

text: Most of the items found in the Collyer brothers' house were deemed worthless and were disposed of. The salvageable items fetched about $2,000 at auction; the cumulative estate of the Collyer brothers was valued at $91,000 (equivalent to $ in ), of which $20,000 worth was personal property (jewelry, cash, securities, and the like). Fifty-six people, mostly first and second cousins, made claims for the estate. A Pittsburgh woman named Ella Davis claimed to be the long lost sister of the Collyers. Davis' claim was dismissed after she failed to provide a birth certificate to prove her identity (years earlier, Davis claimed she was the widow of Peter Liebach, another wealthy recluse, from Pittsburgh, who was found murdered in 1937). In October 1952, the New York County court decided that twenty-three of the claimants were to split the estate equally.


title: Savannah Miller

text: Savannah Elizabeth Louise Miller (born 30 December 1978) is an American-English fashion designer. After working with Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson, she created the label "Twenty8Twelve" with her sister, Sienna Miller. In October 2012 she launched her own collection, "Savannah".


title: Savannah Miller

text: Miller was born in Hong Kong. Her father, Edwin Miller, is an American dealer in Chinese art, previously a banker, while her mother, Josephine Miller, is a retired British model who was born in South Africa to British parents. She has a sister, Sienna, who is an actress, and two half-brothers, Charles and Stephen. Miller moved to London with her family in the 1980s. On leaving school she went to the Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, graduating in 2004 with a first-class honours BA degree in Fashion and Knitwear.


title: Savannah Miller

text: Miller's first jobs were with Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson. In 2006 it was announced that Miller's sister Sienna was to design a "fashion capsule" for Pepe Jeans; this project developed into a fashion label called Twenty8Twelve, still backed by Pepe Jeans, and its first collection, designed by the two sisters, was shown in September 2007. They worked together as joint creative directors until 2012. In October of that year Miller left Twenty8Twelve and launched her own collection, "Savannah". The first Savannah line focused on "luxurious basics" and was marketed by Nelly.com. This led on to a Spring 2013 collection, reported as "heavily influenced by the 1970s". The logo of the "Savannah" line is a swallow.


title: Savannah Miller

text: Sometimes associated with the term "boho-chic", in 2006 Miller described a "real bohemian" as "someone who has the ability to appreciate beauty on a deep level, is a profound romantic, doesn't know any limits, whose world is their own creation, rather than living in a box". However, she dislikes the word "bohemian", and the "Sunday Times" used the term "rural chic" for a collection she designed and modelled for the Hong Kong label Shanghai Tang.


title: Savannah Miller

text: Also an occasional model, Miller has appeared on the cover of "Nylon" magazine and "Sunday Times Style".


title: Savannah Miller

text: In 2005, Miller married Nick Skinner, a teacher of Bushcraft from Devon. At her home, Miller is an enthusiastic cook and gardener. In Gloucestershire, where the family arrived in 2009, she was inspired by Alys Fowler's "The Edible Garden" to plant a vegetable garden, and she also grew French and English lavender and sweet-smelling roses. She has described the garden before her arrival as "worryingly ornamental".


title: Savannah Miller

text: In 2013 Miller and her first husband sold their house in Gloucestershire and moved their family to Panama. However, in 2015 they returned to England, after a variety of troubles, including a boating accident that happened to one of their sons. They then bought another house in the Cotswolds. They separated in 2018.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: Barbara Crampton (born December 27, 1958) is an American actress and producer. She began her career in the 1980s in television soap operas before starring in horror and thriller films—both paths would define her continued accolade-winning career.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: Crampton made her television debut on the daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" (1983–84) before a supporting role as Leanna Love on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless" (1987–93, 1998–2002, 2006–07). Later in her career, she would appear in television horror anthologies such as Syfy's "Channel Zero: The Dream Door" (2018), Hulu's "Into the Dark" (2019), and Shudder's "Creepshow" (2021).


title: Barbara Crampton

text: She made her film debut in "Body Double" (1984), but received recognition in the comedy horror film "Re-Animator" (1985) as Megan Halsey and the science fiction film "From Beyond" (1986) as Dr. Katherine McMichaels. Later defining roles are "Chopping Mall" (1986), "Puppet Master" (1989), "Castle Freak" (1995), "You're Next" (2011), "We Are Still Here" (2015), "Little Sister" (2016), "" (2018), and "Jakob's Wife" (2021), for which she was nominated for Critics' Choice Super Awards.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: Crampton was born December 27, 1958 in Levittown, Long Island, New York. She was raised Roman Catholic. Crampton grew up in Vermont, and spent summers traveling the country with the carnival, as her father was a carny. She started acting in school plays when she was in seventh grade and went on to study acting in high school. She attended Castleton State College in Vermont graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts. After graduation, Crampton made a brief stop in New York, where she appeared as Cordelia in "King Lear" for the American Theater of Actors. She was a Theater Arts Major at Castleton State College from 1976 to 1981.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: From New York, Crampton moved to Los Angeles where she made her television debut on the daytime drama "Days of Our Lives", where she played Trista Evans Bradford and subsequently starred in the pilot episode of "Rituals", the television film "Love Thy Neighbor", and the television series "Santa Barbara". She made her film debut in the 1984 film "Body Double". The following year, Crampton portrayed Chrissie in "Fraternity Vacation", Megan Halsey in "Re-Animator", and Stacy in "Hotel". In 1986, Crampton portrayed Suzie Lynn in "Chopping Mall", Dr. Katherine McMichaels in "From Beyond", and Anne White in "Prince of Bel Air". In 1987, Crampton was cast in "Kidnapped" and portrayed Teri in "Ohara". From 1987 to 2007, Crampton portrayed Leanna Love in "The Young and the Restless". In 1989, Crampton had a cameo role in the horror film "Puppet Master". In 1991, Crampton portrayed Sadie Brady in "Trancers II".


title: Barbara Crampton

text: In 1993, Crampton portrayed archeologist Dr. Leda Fanning in "Robot Wars" with Don Michael Paul. That year she also guest starred on "Civil Wars" and portrayed Mindy Lewis on "Guiding Light" from 1993 to 1995 and left when her contract expired and when she got engaged to L.A.-based actor and director Kristoffer Tabori in April 1995. By September of the same year, their engagement was called off. In 1995, Crampton starred in "Castle Freak". From 1995 to 1998, Crampton portrayed Maggie Forrester on "The Bold and the Beautiful". In 1996, Crampton portrayed Carol in "Space Truckers". In 1997, Crampton guest starred on "The Nanny". The following year, she guest starred on "Party of Five" and starred in the film "The Godson". In 1999, Crampton guest starred on the television series "Pacific Blue".


title: Barbara Crampton

text: In 2001, Crampton had a recurring role as Dr. Leslie Bogan in 5 episodes of the television series "Spyder Games" and starred in "Thy Neighbor's Wife". In 2004, Crampton starred in "The Sisterhood". She subsequently starred in "Read You Like a Book" (2006) and "Never Enough" (2008). Crampton was a special guest at Creation Entertainment's Weekend of Horror 2010. She had a supporting role in the 2011 horror slasher film "You're Next" and played the leading role Anne Sacchetti in "We Are Still Here" (2015), co-starring Lisa Marie and Larry Fessenden. Both films received positive reviews from critics.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: Crampton next appeared in Abner Pastoll's "taut Euro thriller" "Road Games", in which she speaks both French and English. In 2015 she starred along with Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, Kane Hodder, Bill Moseley, Michael Berryman, Doug Bradley, Gunnar Hansen, Ken Foree and Dee Wallace in the Harrison Smith horror film "Death House".


title: Barbara Crampton

text: In 2018, Crampton was given the prestigious Horror Channel Lifetime Achievement Award at Grimmfest in Manchester, United Kingdom.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: In 2021, Crampton produced and starred in the horror-drama "Jakob's Wife", which she personally developed over the course of several years. The same year, she voiced serial killer Nicolette Aster in an audio drama adaptation of "Our Lady of the Inferno" and appeared in the Lovecraftian film "Sacrifice". In 2021, she also did a voice role for the first-person shooter video game "Back 4 Blood" (2021) as Mom.


title: Barbara Crampton

text: In December 1986, Crampton appeared in a nude pictorial in "Playboy" magazine titled "Simply Beastly. Behind every successful monster, there's a woman."


title: Gamma matrices

text: In mathematical physics, the gamma matrices, formula_1, also called the Dirac matrices, are a set of conventional matrices with specific anticommutation relations that ensure they generate a matrix representation of the Clifford algebra Cl(formula_2). It is also possible to define higher-dimensional gamma matrices. When interpreted as the matrices of the action of a set of orthogonal basis vectors for contravariant vectors in Minkowski space, the column vectors on which the matrices act become a space of spinors, on which the Clifford algebra of spacetime acts. This in turn makes it possible to represent infinitesimal spatial rotations and Lorentz boosts. Spinors facilitate spacetime computations in general, and in particular are fundamental to the Dirac equation for relativistic spin- particles.


title: Gamma matrices

text: formula_4 is the time-like, Hermitian matrix. The other three are space-like, anti-Hermitian matrices. More compactly, formula_5, and formula_6, where formula_7 denotes the Kronecker product and the formula_8 (for ) denote the Pauli matrices.


title: Gamma matrices

text: The gamma matrices have a group structure, the gamma group, that is shared by all matrix representations of the group, in any dimension, for any signature of the metric. For example, the Pauli matrices are a set of "gamma" matrices in dimension 3 with metric of Euclidean signature (3, 0). In 5 spacetime dimensions, the 4 gammas above together with the fifth gamma-matrix to be presented below generate the Clifford algebra.


title: Gamma matrices

text: The defining property for the gamma matrices to generate a Clifford algebra is the anticommutation relation


title: Gamma matrices

text: where formula_10 is the anticommutator, formula_11 is the Minkowski metric with signature , and formula_12 is the identity matrix.


title: Gamma matrices

text: This defining property is more fundamental than the numerical values used in the specific representation of the gamma matrices. Covariant gamma matrices are defined by


title: Gamma matrices

text: Note that the other sign convention for the metric, necessitates either a change in the defining equation:


title: Gamma matrices

text: or a multiplication of all gamma matrices by formula_15, which of course changes their hermiticity properties detailed below. Under the alternative sign convention for the metric the covariant gamma matrices are then defined by


title: Gamma matrices

text: The Clifford algebra over spacetime can be regarded as the set of real linear operators from to itself, , or more generally, when complexified to , as the set of linear operators from any 4 dimensional complex vector space to itself. More simply, given a basis for , is just the set of all complex matrices, but endowed with a Clifford algebra structure. Spacetime is assumed to be endowed with the Minkowski metric . A space of bispinors, , is also assumed at every point in spacetime, endowed with the bispinor representation of the Lorentz group. The bispinor fields of the Dirac equations, evaluated at any point in spacetime, are elements of , see below. The Clifford algebra is assumed to act on as well (by matrix multiplication with column vectors in for all ). This will be the primary view of elements of in this section.


title: Gamma matrices

text: For each linear transformation of , there is a transformation of given by for in . If belongs to a representation of the Lorentz group, then the induced action will also belong to a representation of the Lorentz group, see Representation theory of the Lorentz group.


title: Gamma matrices

text: If is the bispinor representation acting on of an arbitrary Lorentz transformation in the standard (4 vector) representation acting on , then there is a corresponding operator on given by equation:


title: Gamma matrices

text: showing that the quantity of can be viewed as a "basis" of a representation space of the 4 vector representation of the Lorentz group sitting inside the Clifford algebra. The last identity can be recognized as the defining relationship for matrices belonging to an indefinite orthogonal group, which is formula_18 written in indexed notation. This means that quantities of the form


title: Gamma matrices

text: should be treated as 4 vectors in manipulations. It also means that indices can be raised and lowered on the using the metric as with any 4 vector. The notation is called the Feynman slash notation. The slash operation maps the basis of , or any 4 dimensional vector space, to basis vectors . The transformation rule for slashed quantities is simply


title: Gamma matrices

text: One should note that this is different from the transformation rule for the , which are now treated as (fixed) basis vectors. The designation of the 4 tuple as a 4 vector sometimes found in the literature is thus a slight misnomer. The latter transformation corresponds to an active transformation of the components of a slashed quantity in terms of the basis , and the former to a passive transformation of the basis itself.


title: Gamma matrices

text: The elements form a representation of the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group. This is a spin representation. When these matrices, and linear combinations of them, are exponentiated, they are bispinor representations of the Lorentz group, e.g., the of above are of this form. The 6 dimensional space the span is the representation space of a tensor representation of the Lorentz group. For the higher order elements of the Clifford algebra in general and their transformation rules, see the article Dirac algebra. The spin representation of the Lorentz group is encoded in the spin group (for real, uncharged spinors) and in the complexified spin group for charged (Dirac) spinors.


title: Gamma matrices

text: Although formula_26 uses the letter gamma, it is not one of "the" gamma matrices of Cl(formula_2). The number 5 is a relic of old notation, in which formula_4 was called "formula_29".


title: Gamma matrices

text: where formula_36 is the type (4,4) generalized Kronecker delta in 4 dimensions, in full antisymmetrization. If formula_37 denotes the Levi-Civita symbol in "n" dimensions, we can use the identity formula_38.


title: Gamma matrices

text: This matrix is useful in discussions of quantum mechanical chirality. For example, a Dirac field can be projected onto its left-handed and right-handed components by:


title: Gamma matrices

text: The Clifford algebra in odd dimensions behaves like "two" copies of the Clifford algebra of one less dimension, a left copy and a right copy. Thus, one can employ a bit of a trick to repurpose as one of the generators of the Clifford algebra in five dimensions. In this case, the set therefore, by the last two properties (keeping in mind that ) and those of the old gammas, forms the basis of the Clifford algebra in spacetime dimensions for the metric signature . In metric signature , the set is used, where the are the appropriate ones for the signature. This pattern is repeated for spacetime dimension even and the next odd dimension for all . For more detail, see higher-dimensional gamma matrices.


title: Gamma matrices

text: The following identities follow from the fundamental anticommutation relation, so they hold in any basis (although the last one depends on the sign choice for formula_26).


title: Gamma matrices

text: The gamma matrices can be chosen with extra hermiticity conditions which are restricted by the above anticommutation relations however. We can impose


title: Gamma matrices

text: The hermiticity conditions are not invariant under the action formula_63 of a Lorentz transformation formula_64 because formula_65 is not necessarily a unitary transformation due to the non-compactness of the Lorentz group.


title: Gamma matrices

text: where formula_67 denotes the matrix transpose. The explicit form that formula_68 takes is dependent on the specific representation chosen for the gamma matrices (its form expressed as product of the gamma matrices is representation dependent, while it can be seen formula_69 in the Dirac basis, this fails to hold in the Majorana basis, for example). This is because although charge conjugation is an automorphism of the gamma group, it is "not" an inner automorphism (of the group). Conjugating matrices can be found, but they are representation-dependent.


title: Gamma matrices

text: In addition, for all four representations given below (Dirac, Majorana and both chiral variants), one has


title: Gamma matrices

text: Many follow directly from expanding out the slash notation and contracting expressions of the form formula_88 with the appropriate identity in terms of gamma matrices.


title: Gamma matrices

text: The gamma matrices we have written so far are appropriate for acting on Dirac spinors written in the "Dirac basis"; in fact, the Dirac basis is defined by these matrices. To summarize, in the Dirac basis:


title: Gamma matrices

text: Another common choice is the "Weyl" or "chiral basis", in which formula_93 remains the same but formula_4 is different, and so formula_26 is also different, and diagonal,


title: Gamma matrices

text: where formula_101 and formula_102 are the left-handed and right-handed two-component Weyl spinors, as before.


title: Gamma matrices

text: There is also the Majorana basis, in which all of the Dirac matrices are imaginary, and the spinors and Dirac equation are real. Regarding the Pauli matrices, the basis can be written as


title: Gamma matrices

text: The Majorana basis can be obtained from the Dirac basis above as formula_117 via the unitary transform


title: Gamma matrices

text: The Dirac algebra can be regarded as a complexification of the real algebra Cl(formula_2), called the space time algebra:


title: Gamma matrices

text: Cl(formula_2) differs from Cl(formula_122): in Cl(formula_2) only "real" linear combinations of the gamma matrices and their products are allowed.


title: Gamma matrices

text: Two things deserve to be pointed out. As "Clifford algebras", Cl(formula_122) and Cl(formula_122) are isomorphic, see classification of Clifford algebras. The reason is that the underlying signature of the spacetime metric loses its signature (1,3) upon passing to the complexification. However, the transformation required to bring the bilinear form to the complex canonical form is not a Lorentz transformation and hence not "permissible" (at the very least impractical) since all physics is tightly knit to the Lorentz symmetry and it is preferable to keep it manifest.


title: Gamma matrices

text: Proponents of geometric algebra strive to work with real algebras wherever that is possible. They argue that it is generally possible (and usually enlightening) to identify the presence of an imaginary unit in a physical equation. Such units arise from one of the many quantities in a real Clifford algebra that square to −1, and these have geometric significance because of the properties of the algebra and the interaction of its various subspaces. Some of these proponents also question whether it is necessary or even useful to introduce an additional imaginary unit in the context of the Dirac equation.


title: Gamma matrices

text: In the mathematics of Riemannian geometry, it is conventional to define the Clifford algebra Cl(formula_2) for arbitrary dimensions . The Weyl spinors transform under the action of the spin group formula_127. The complexification of the spin group, called the spinc group formula_128, is a product formula_129 of the spin group with the circle formula_130 The product formula_131 just a notational device to identify formula_132 with formula_133 The geometric point of this is that it disentangles the real spinor, which is covariant under Lorentz transformations, from the formula_134 component, which can be identified with the formula_135 fiber of the electromagnetic interaction. The formula_131 is entangling parity and charge conjugation in a manner suitable for relating the Dirac particle/anti-particle states (equivalently, the chiral states in the Weyl basis). The bispinor, insofar as it has linearly independent left and right components, can interact with the electromagnetic field. This is in contrast to the Majorana spinor and the ELKO spinor, which cannot ("i.e." they are electrically neutral), as they explicitly constrain the spinor so as to not interact with the formula_137 part coming from the complexification.


title: Gamma matrices

text: However, in contemporary practice in physics, the Dirac algebra rather than the space-time algebra continues to be the standard environment the spinors of the Dirac equation "live" in.


title: Gamma matrices

text: The gamma matrices are diagonalizable with eigenvalues formula_138 for formula_4, and eigenvalues formula_140 for formula_141.


title: Gamma matrices

text: In particular, this implies that formula_4 is simultaneously Hermitian and unitary, while the formula_141 are simultaneously anti–Hermitian and unitary.


title: Gamma matrices

text: More generally, if formula_144 is not null, a similar result holds. For concreteness, we restrict to the positive norm case formula_145 with formula_146. The negative case follows similarly.


title: Gamma matrices

text: It follows that the solution space to formula_147 (that is, the kernel of the left-hand side) has dimension 2. This means the solution space for plane wave solutions to Dirac's equation has dimension 2.


title: Gamma matrices

text: This result still holds for the massless Dirac equation. In other words, if formula_148 null, then formula_149 has nullity 2.


title: Gamma matrices

text: In quantum field theory one can Wick rotate the time axis to transit from Minkowski space to Euclidean space. This is particularly useful in some renormalization procedures as well as lattice gauge theory. In Euclidean space, there are two commonly used representations of Dirac matrices:


title: Gamma matrices

text: Notice that the factors of formula_15 have been inserted in the spatial gamma matrices so that the Euclidean Clifford algebra


title: Gamma matrices

text: will emerge. It is also worth noting that there are variants of this which insert instead formula_153 on one of the matrices, such as in lattice QCD codes which use the chiral basis.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben (4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944) was a German field marshal in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was designated to become Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht in a post-Nazi regime had the plot succeeded.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: Erwin von Witzleben was born in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) in the Prussian province of Silesia, the son of Georg von Witzleben (1838–1898), a Hauptmann (captain) in the Prussian Army, and his wife, Therese née Brandenburg. The Witzleben dynasty was an "Uradel" family of old nobility and many officers, descending from Witzleben in Thuringia.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: He completed the Prussian Cadet Corps program at Liegnitz Ritter-Akademie, Prussian Silesia and in Lichterfelde near Berlin, and on 22 June 1901 joined the Grenadier Regiment "König Wilhelm I" No. 7 in Liegnitz, Silesia (now Legnica, Poland) as a Leutnant (lieutenant). In 1910, he was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant).


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: At the beginning of the First World War, Witzleben served as brigade adjutant in the 19th Reserve Infantry Brigade before being promoted to Hauptmann and company chief in the Reserve Infantry Regiment No.6 in October 1914. Later, in the same regiment, he became battalion commander. His unit fought in Verdun, the Champagne region and Flanders, among other places. He was seriously wounded and was awarded the Iron Cross, both first and second classes. Afterwards, he was sent to General Staff training and witnessed the war end as First General Staff Officer of the 121st Division.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: In the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, Witzleben was promoted to company commander. In 1923, he found himself on the Fourth Division staff in Dresden as a Major. In 1928, he became battalion commander in Infantry Regiment No. 6 and retained that position as Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) the following year. After being promoted to full "Oberst" (colonel) in 1931, he took over as commanding officer of the (Prussian) Infantry Regiment No. 8 in Frankfurt on the Oder.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: Early in 1933, shortly before Adolf Hitler seized autocratic control of the German state via a paramilitary backed revolution with the passage in the Reichstag of the Enabling Act of 1933, Witzleben was transferred to the post of Infantry Leader VI in Hanover. He was promoted to Generalmajor (major general) on 1 February 1934 and moved to Potsdam as the new commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. He succeeded General Werner von Fritsch as commander of Wehrkreis III (Berlin (HQ), Brandenburg, parts of Neumark). In this position, he was promoted to Generalleutnant (lieutenant general) and in the newly established Wehrmacht forces became commanding general of Army Corps III in Berlin in September 1935. In 1936, he was promoted to a General of the Infantry (General der Infanterie).


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: As early as 1934, Witzleben indicated opposition against the Nazi regime when he and Manstein, Leeb, and Rundstedt demanded an inquiry into Schleicher's and Bredow's deaths in the Night of the Long Knives. As a result of that and his criticism of Hitler's persecution of Fritsch in the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair, Witzleben was temporarily forced into early retirement. His "retirement" did not last, however, as Hitler soon needed him in the preparations for the Second World War.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: By 1938, Witzleben was a member of the Oster Conspiracy, a group of plotters including Generaloberst (Colonel General) Ludwig Beck, Generals Erich Hoepner and Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, Admiral and Chief of the Abwehr Wilhelm Canaris and Abwehr Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) Hans Oster. The men planned to overthrow Hitler in a military coup d'état and avert another European war, which seemed highly likely during the 1938 Sudeten Crisis, until the Munich Agreement both shocked and demoralized the plotters. Witzleben's unit, which including the key Berlin Defense District, was to have played a decisive role in the planned coup.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: In November 1938, Witzleben had been installed as commander-in-chief of Army Group 2 in Frankfurt. He was also involved in Generaloberst Hammerstein-Equord's conspiracy plans of 1939. The latter planned to seize Hitler outright in a kind of frontal assault while the former would shut down the Nazi headquarters, but the plan also fell through.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: In September 1939, Witzleben, then a Generaloberst (Colonel General), took command of the 1st Army, stationed at the Western Front. When Germany attacked France on 10 May 1940, the First Army was part of Army Group C. On 14 June it broke through the Maginot line, and within three days had forced several French divisions to surrender. For this, Witzleben was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross; and on 19 July, he was promoted to "Generalfeldmarschall" (General Field Marshal) during the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: In 1941 he was even appointed Commander-in-Chief OB West, succeeding "Generalfeldmarschall" Gerd von Rundstedt, but only a year later, he took leave from that position for health reasons. Some sources, however, claim that he was again forcibly retired at this time after he had criticised the regime for its invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 in Operation Barbarossa.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: In 1944, the conspirators around Stauffenberg saw Witzleben as the key man in their plans. Whereas Generaloberst (Colonel General) Beck was seen as a prospective provisional head of state, and Generaloberst Hoepner was in line to command the inner "Ersatzheer" ("Replacement Army") forces, Witzleben was to take over supreme command of the whole Wehrmacht as the highest-ranking German officer.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: However, on 20 July 1944, the day of Stauffenberg's attempt on Hitler's life at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, Witzleben did not arrive at the Bendlerblock in Berlin from the OKH-HQ (Oberkommando des Heeres Headquarters) at Zossen to assume command of the coup forces until 8 p.m., when it was already clear that the coup attempt had failed. He then protested angrily that it had been bungled and left after 45 minutes to return to Zossen, where he reported the situation to General of the Artillery (General der Artillerie) Eduard Wagner and then drove back to his country estate, 30 mi away, where he was arrested the next day by Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Viktor Linnarz of the OKH personnel office.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: He was then cast out of the Wehrmacht by the so-called "Ehrenhof der Wehrmacht" ("The Regular Army's Court of Honor"), a conclave of officers set up after the attempted assassination to remove officers from the Wehrmacht who had been involved in the plot, mainly so that they were no longer subject to German military law and could be arraigned to a show trial before the Nazi "People's Court" ("Volksgerichtshof").


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: On 7 August 1944, Witzleben was in the first group of accused conspirators to be brought before the "Volksgerichtshof". Ravaged by the conditions of his Gestapo arrest, he surprisingly approached the bench giving the Nazi salute, for which he was rebuked by the presiding judge Roland Freisler.


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: Witzleben was sentenced to death on the same day. Witzleben gave these closing words in court, addressed to Freisler:


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: Much of the Volksgerichtshof, including scenes of Witzleben's show trial, was filmed for the German weekly newsreel "Die Deutsche Wochenschau"; however, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels decided against releasing the footage, firstly because Freisler's abusive ranting in the courtroom might draw sympathy for the accused and secondly because the regime wanted to quell public discussion of the event. The material was classified as secret ("Geheime Reichssache").


title: Erwin von Witzleben

text: Witzleben was put to death the same day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. By Hitler's direct orders, he was hanged with a meat hook and a thin hemp rope, which people who were not from the prison staff called a piano wire, and the execution was filmed. The footage has since been lost.


title: Days of the New

text: Days of the New is an American rock band from Charlestown, Indiana, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians. They are best known for the hit singles "Touch, Peel and Stand", "The Down Town", "Shelf in the Room", "Enemy", as well as radio hits "Weapon and the Wound", "Hang On To This" and "Die Born".


title: Days of the New

text: The band was formed by Meeks as an acoustic solo project during his teenage years. The first album, self-titled but informally known "Yellow" or "Orange", featured Meeks, along with Jesse Vest, Todd Whitener and Matt Taul. Vest, Whitener and Tail went on to form Tantric. The group briefly included future pop star Nicole Scherzinger on the second album, also self-titled and informally known as "Green". Other band members would include drummer Ray Rizzo, bassist Mike Starr (Alice in Chains) and bassist Charlie Colin (Train).


title: Days of the New

text: Days of the New began as an experimental rock/groove metal trio called Dead Reckoning, with Meeks, Larry Montgomery, Matt Taul, and Jesse Vest. When they turned to an acoustic sound, they changed the name of the band and added guitarist Todd Whitener.


title: Days of the New

text: A demo version of the song "Freak" appeared on the "Harvest Showcase Volume 3", a compilation of Louisville area artists. This recording features a solo performance by Meeks credited to Days of the New. Jesse Vest and Matt Taul are listed as band members in the liner notes although they do not appear on this recording.


title: Days of the New

text: Producer Scott Litt, known for working with R.E.M and Nirvana, signed the band to his label Outpost Recordings, a joint venture with Geffen Records.


title: Days of the New

text: The band recorded their debut album at Allen Martin Productions in Louisville, KY in October and November 1996. The first Days of the New release, an eponymous album frequently called "Orange" or "Yellow" after the color of the disc and liner notes, was released in 1997, selling 1.5 million copies worldwide. Three songs from this album were hits: "Touch, Peel and Stand," "The Down Town," and "Shelf in the Room." The first was No. 1 on Billboard's Rock Chart for 17 weeks; "The Down Town" and "Shelf in the Room" were each top 40 hits.


title: Days of the New

text: Internal problems of the band were evident early on. Shortly after releasing their debut album, Days of the New began touring smaller venues. MTV reported that, after missing a Florida concert in April, the band members appeared physically black-eyed and beaten the following day after what sources claimed to be a band brawl. They then toured with Metallica and Jerry Cantrell starting in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 24, 1998. Meeks later criticized this billing, arguing due to their acoustic sound, Days of the New should have toured with a group like Dave Matthews Band.


title: Days of the New

text: Just before starting this summer tour, however, Meeks had already told interviewers that all of his fellow band members were holding him back and, consequently, were being released from the group. He also said that they were disappointed by this decision but that he thought they would remain friends. An Outpost spokesperson, however, claimed that "Travis just talks" and that nothing was official. Before they could fulfill club touring duties with Finger Eleven and Flight 16 in December, without citing reason, Meeks canceled in early November. Various explanations were given by band members and a label spokesperson including poor tour scheduling, band fighting, and even Meeks being physically ill. It was finally confirmed in February 1999 that the band indeed split up. Todd Whitener, Matt Taul, and Jesse Vest would go on to form C14, soon renamed Tantric, while Meeks formed a new band under the Days of the New name.


title: Days of the New

text: There are two contradictory explanations of the original Days of the New breakup. Comments by Meeks in 1998 lead to reports that he fired the rest of the band. Meeks has called this telling false and claims the other band members were jealous that he was paid more than they were. When Meeks first announced the news, he said "It's like a journey in the wilderness - you know with like the struggle and stuff. I made it through, I survived, but the other guys didn't." He also posted comments online: "It wasn't truly a band format. It is my fault for leading you on and setting you up to get attached to the prior members." Later, in 2002, Meeks called in to The Howard Stern Show and was asked by Stern why he didn't stick with the original members. He replied, "They had no spirituality. They had no brains." When Stern pointed out, "They had hits!" he gave the vague response, "That's not what I'm into. I'm into the truth."


title: Days of the New

text: Shortly after the original band's breakup, Meeks recorded a second album, "Days of the New". The album was released on August 31, 1999. Meeks debuted his new band on September 4, 1999 at the ear X-tacy store in Louisville. Critics were fairly enthusiastic about the album but it sold poorly compared to the previous effort.


title: Days of the New

text: In February 2000, Meeks returned to the studio with a new band and recorded their third album as Days of the New by July. Like the first two records, the album is self-titled. The first single, "Hang on to This" peaked at No. 18 on the US Rock Chart and was the most added song on rock radio the week of its debut. The album, released two weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks with very little promotion, sold 90,000 copies. Days of the New toured with Creed and 3 Doors Down. Meanwhile, Meeks's original bandmates formed the band Tantric, whose debut self-titled debut went platinum.


title: Days of the New

text: After touring for "Red," the band parted ways with Interscope and had a period of inactivity. In December 2002, Meeks was involved in a high-profile audition for Velvet Revolver with several former members of Guns N' Roses. In the later half of 2003, Meeks embarked on a solo tour, performing at small venues. His addiction to methamphetamine continued and in early 2005, he appeared on A&E's "Intervention", where family and friends convinced him to enter rehab.


title: Days of the New

text: In September 2005, Meeks announced he had achieved sobriety and was writing for a fourth Days of the New record.


title: Days of the New

text: On March 4, 2008, Geffen released "", the first compilation of the band. Meeks stated that the upcoming record will be called "Days of the New Presents Tree Colors".


title: Days of the New

text: In 2010, Mike Starr of Alice in Chains began playing with Meeks, preparing for a tour that would also feature Charlie Colin of Train. However, Starr died on March 8, 2011, before touring had begun.


title: Days of the New

text: In 2014, the original lineup of Days of the New announced they had reunited and were planning a summer tour called "Full Circle."


title: Days of the New

text: Following a cancelled date in Columbia, Missouri, the band abruptly ended their set in St. Louis on September 6 due to Meeks being too drunk to perform. Bassist Jesse Vest took the microphone to inform the crowd that it was the band's last show together. In the next several days, the band released several statements on Facebook claiming they'd reunited with Meeks because, after he'd unsuccessfully tried to recruit other musicians, he'd begged them to return.


title: Days of the New

text: On September 26, 2014, the band announced on Facebook that they again would be going their separate ways with Meeks retaining the Days of the New name. Meeks put a new lineup together and continued touring but was arrested in Portland, Maine on October 10, 2014 on a warrant for failure to appear in court to answer charges of possessing a hypodermic needle.


title: Days of the New

text: In August 2018, after a four-year hiatus, Meeks played a solo show at the Red Bicycle Hall in Madison, Indiana.


title: Days of the New

text: On March 3, 2021, an unofficial bootleg compilation of some of Days of the New's rarer tracks, entitled 'The Gift', was released illegally without the consent of the band or previous record label. 911 Entertainment Records have since confirmed this was wrong and pulled the release from all streaming platforms, effective immediately. 911 Entertainment Records issued an apology and pulled the bootleg album from streaming services. However, shortly after on July 26, 2021, 911 Entertainment Records released a revised version of the compilation, removing and adding several songs, titled 'Illusion is Now'.


title: Days of the New

text: All of these unreleased albums have been reconstructed from outtakes floating online and uploaded, among with other related material, on an unofficial Youtube channel which has later been converted in the official channel of Travis Meeks.


title: Body image

text: Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, philosophy, cultural and feminist studies; the media also often uses the term. Across these disciplines, there is no single consensus definition, but broadly speaking body image consists of the ways people view themselves; their memories, experiences, assumptions, and comparisons about their own appearances; and their overall attitudes towards their own respective heights, shapes, and weights—all of which are shaped by prevalent social and cultural ideals.


title: Body image

text: Body image can be negative ("body negativity") or positive ("body positivity"). A person with a negative body image may feel self-conscious or ashamed, and may feel that others are more attractive. In a time where social media holds a very important place and is used frequently in our daily lives. People of different ages are affected emotionally and mentally by the appearance and body size/shape ideals set by the society they live in. These standards created and changed by society created a world filled with body shaming; the act of humiliating an individual by mocking or making critical comments about a person's physiological appearance. There are differences of body shaming someone and yourself, according to anad.org "We are our own worst critic" which means that we judge and see our own flaws more than anyone else. We body shame ourselves by judging or comparing ourselves to someone else.


title: Body image

text: Aside from having low self-esteem, sufferers typically fixate on altering their physical appearances. Such behavior creates body dissatisfaction and higher risks of eating disorders, isolation, and mental illnesses in the long term. In Eating Disorders, a negative body image may also lead to body image disturbance, an altered perception of the whole one's body. Body dissatisfaction also characterizes body dysmorphic disorder, an obsessive-compulsive disorder defined by concerns about some specific aspect of one's body (usually face, skin or hair), which is severely flawed and warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix. Often, people who have a low body image will try to alter their bodies in some way, such as by dieting or by undergoing cosmetic surgery. On the other hand, positive body image consists of perceiving one's figure clearly and correctly, celebrating and appreciating one's body, and understanding that one's appearance does not reflect one's character or worth.


title: Body image

text: Many factors contribute to a person's body image, including family dynamics, mental illness, biological predispositions and environmental causes for obesity or malnutrition, and cultural expectations (e.g., media and politics). People who are either underweight or overweight can have poor body image. However, when people are constantly told and shown the cosmetic appeal of weight loss and are warned about the risks of obesity, those who are normal or overweight on the BMI scale have higher risks of poor body image. "We expected women would feel worse about their bodies after seeing ultra-thin models, compared to no models if they have internalized the thin ideal, thus replicating previous findings."


title: Body image

text: A 2007 report by the American Psychological Association found that a culture-wide sexualization of girls and women was contributing to increased female anxiety associated with body image. An Australian government Senate Standing Committee report on the sexualization of children in the media reported similar findings associated with body image. However, other scholars have expressed concern that these claims are not based on solid data.


title: Body image

text: In Ancient Egypt, the perfect woman was said to have a slender figure, with narrow shoulders, and a tall waist. Ancient Greece focused more on the male figure, but its female ideal was full-figured and plump with fair skin tones. Han Dynasty China primarily emphasized the face, skin, and hair. Ideal traits included clear, white skin; long, dark hair; and, for men, a stalwart frame. Any feature that implied social status or wealth was ideal.


title: Body image

text: During the Italian Renaissance, a wife's appearance was taken as an important reflection of her husband's status; size was linked to wealth, and so the ideal wife was held to have full hips and an ample bosom. The Victorian Era witnessed a similar movement, but the popularity of the waist-cinching corset led to the desirability of the hourglass figure. In the 1900s U.S. fashion and media industries celebrated the Gibson Girl: slim and tall, with a large bust and wide hips, but a narrow waist. These girls were also often shown in magazines such as "Harper's Bazaar" and "LIFE", which resulted in a link between trendy fashions and styles, and the maintenance of active lifestyles and healthy well-beings


title: Body image

text: After World War I, the Gibson Girl transformed into the Flapper, an ideal type which dominated the period of the "Roaring Twenties". Women transitioned towards androgynous looks, in which hair styles were kept short, and brassieres were worn to flatten the chest. Loose clothing was also a trend, as it downplayed the waist by lowering it below the navel, resulting in a straight boyish figure.


title: Body image

text: Dress sense became more casual as well, perhaps reflecting a postwar relaxation of social and political tension, and a reaction against the matronly image of the women behind the alcohol Prohibition movement in the USA. With advertisements increasingly advocating the need to achieve a thinner frame, many women therefore pursued diets and exercise. Although slimmer body types were favoured, a sporty and healthy appearance was still prized above the frail and sickly look from the Victorian Era.


title: Body image

text: Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Paul Schilder coined the phrase 'body-image' in his book "The Image and Appearance of the Human Body" (1935).


title: Body image

text: The 1930s and 1940s witnessed the devastating effects of the second World War. While men were out on the battlefield, females began entering the workforce. This resulted in more formal and traditional military dress styles for women, which caused another shift in body image. While waists remained thin but prominent, the media embraced a more curvaceous look similar to the hourglass figure, through the addition of broad shoulders and large breasts as well.


title: Body image

text: Since this era was part of the golden age of Hollywood, many celebrities continued to influence this trend by wearing tight-fitting clothing that emphasized their figures. Pin-up girls and sex symbols radiating glamour soon followed in the 1950s, and the proportions of the hourglass figure expanded. Notable names include Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren. In order to achieve this ideal figure, women consumed weight-gain supplements. The release of "Playboy" magazine and the Barbie doll during this era reinforced this ideal.


title: Body image

text: Depictions of the perfect woman slowly grew thinner from the 1960s onward. The "Swinging Sixties" saw a similar look to the Flapper with the emergence of high-fashion model Twiggy, who promoted the thin and petite frame, with long slender legs, and an adolescent but androgynous figure. Other characteristics include, small busts, narrow hips, and flat stomachs. Many women either underwent diets or switched to weight-loss supplements to achieve the new look. This eventually resulted in an increase in anorexia nervosa during the 1970s.