ABCs of my read through of The Way of the Rose by Clark Strand and Perdita Finn

Ankh, the hieroglyph for Life p. 3

"Breathtakingly radical [devotion] allows us to imagine the renewal and protection of all life on Earth." p. 8 ~ The Way of the Rose by Clark Strand and Perdita Finn

Can bring forth so much beauty, love, healing, and miracles

Divine Mother of us all. p. 8 

"Earth is always ready to show us how to live and eat and love." p. 98

Firmly rooted in the spiritual traditions of the past and yet breathtakingly radical

Give yourself over to prayer

Handed down from prehistoric times p. 4

"It is in speaking your truth that you will find your true footing in this world." p. 99 [9/28/22]

Japamala - sanskrit means "muttering garland" - "Joy is the point." p. 119

"Knots we didn't even know were there gradually come undone." p. 96

"Loosen our grip on the steering wheel and remember to hold on to her instead." p. 54

Multitasker - chatting, muttering, moving about communing with others." p. 7

"Nonlinear path to salvation in the company of a loving female guide." p. 56

Ouroboros signifies the eternal cycles of birth, death, and rebirth that were once the source of the Goddess's power." p. 73

Praying the rosary gives us a way to reclaim our devotion to the Divine Mother, get our feet on the ground again, and find our way back to the garden of the Earth." p. 8

Quintessential symbols of both spiritual and romantic love: roses p. 81

"Quest for human supremacy has been fueled by a need for domination and control. The end result is a species-wide crusade against nature that value obedience and conformity, profit and power, and order above everything else. But within our hearts are the long dormant seeds of all that has sustained us through the axons-- the longing for love, the desire for beauty,  the wisdom of story and song, the yearning for connection and community." p. 98 ~ The Way of the Rose by Clark Strand and Perdita Finn

Rosary refers to the garlands traditionally woven from roses

"Syllables themselves becoming a thread to guide me through the labyrinth of my fears." p. 47

There is no secret handshake / There is just my hand / Just take it. I understand that it is very difficult to accept the simplicity and trust of that." p. 67

"Unwriting" the history of human supremacy over Nature." p. 85

Vivisectionist (p.74) practice of minute examination or criticism, versus useful examination.

eXistential fears. p. 45

"Your understanding must be inside out." p. 74

"...Zen Buddist monk and his feminist wife experience an apparition of the Virgin Mary..."

October 1, 2022

“At the entrance to Robert Downey Jr.’s Malibu, Calif., home, a pivot-hinged door opens onto a spacious foyer... At the height of their popularity in the late 1970s, Binishells popped up like soap bubbles across Australia, where Bini, who got the idea for the domes after a game of tennis under an inflatable roof, had been hired by the public works department of New South Wales to build schools.

“Binishell, a form originated in 1964 by Dante Bini. The now-90-year-old Italian industrial designer discovered that by topping a nylon-coated neoprene air bladder with wet steel-reinforced concrete, then slowly inflating it, he could make — in an hour or so, about the time it takes for the material to cure — a naturally aerodynamic and durable thin-shell Bungalow.”

Cocoonlike: “Call it biomimicry or call it borrowing from nature, but the beauty is that it works.” ~ Nicolò Bini

“Downey’s Binishell was designed by the creator’s son, Nicolò, a 55-year-old Beverly Hills-based architect who’s reimagining his father’s innovation. Nicolò didn’t so much follow in the elder Bini’s footsteps as stumble into them while puzzling over fast, efficient solutions to the global housing crisis. 

Entrance: 

“Found themselves increasingly committed to ecologically focused solutions to social problems. (In 2019, Downey created the FootPrint Coalition, a venture fund that invests in sustainable-minded companies. They’ve used their land as a testing...

“Ground for technologies like solar-generated water systems and a pair of wind turbines to offset the building’s energy consumption.

“Home lacking interior walls, at least structural ones, the dome feels surprisingly cozy; where the plaster-finished gypsum room dividers don’t extend all the way to the curved ceiling, panes of soundproof glass have been added for privacy. From the kitchen, the Heart of the structure, a hallway leads past a space-themed arcade game into a bright living room with cork flooring.

“In Malibu, an Inflatable Bungalow for Robert Downey Jr...“It was a crucible of faith,” says the actor about his elaborate version of the typically humble Binishell.

Joyce Kim, photographer

“Kooboo rattan cane nest by the South African designer Porky Hefer hangs next to a sofa...”

Living room :

“My intention wasn’t to propagate his work,” he says. “It was to figure out a better way of building.” ~ Nicolò Bini

Nick Haramis, American journalist, New York Times article

Oceanair... Overlooks Zuma Beach

Photo credits: Joyce Kim

“Quixotic project”

“Robert Clydesdale, suggested they consider Nicolò, who had been working to update his father’s Binishells — and bring them up to code...A Reduced-carbon-footprint, energy-efficient home of tomorrow.”  ~ Joe Nahem source

"Stocked candy bar, leads to a Self-contained Screening room accessible through a folding garage-type door.”

“Thin-shell home is at once an aerodynamic oddity and, perhaps, a harbinger of environmentally conscious architecture...'Toxic Mickey' (2017), a bronze fountain sculpture by the American artist Bill Barminski that depicts a man chest-deep in a punctured oil drum, wearing a gas mask in the shape of Walt Disney’s beloved mouse.”

Undulating 6,500-square-foot white concrete domed structure that could either be prehistoric or from the distant future. Downey, 57, calls it the Clubhouse.

“Very intimidating.” ~ Joe Nahem, Interior designer of the New York-based firm Fox-Nahem

Whimsy :)

“eXpressive signifier of the Downeys’ whimsy...opens dramatically into an eXpansive foyer with a saltwater aquarium. A wavy screen made of fiberglass beads in gray, brown and neon yellow separates a breakfast nook from the dining room; nearby, a jokey display case contains a pair of fake-marshmallow-tipped sticks with instructions to “break glass in case of fire.”

“Yet the challenge of creating such an architectural oddity — a Buckminster Fuller folly by way of Beverly Hills — was clearly part of the fun.”

Zuma Beach, Malibu, California

Click here for the full article