Created 23-Nov-10
Modified 17-Feb-25
Viriditas is my inspiration.
In 1994 Kim Stanley Robinson (in his Hugo Award-winning book, Green Mars), described human activities that would begin to terraform Mars by allowing plants to grow there and referred to viriditas as “the green force of life, expanding into the Universe.” The theme of viriditas underlies much of the character and plot development in his awarded trilogy Red Mars - Green Mars - Blue Mars. After reading this story, I became aware of viriditas regularly during my photographic forays in South Florida and in Costa Rica.
In 2002, Azam Ali - modern day Iranian singer/musician released her first solo album, Portals of Grace. In the liner notes, she wrote of being inspired by music written by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179 CE) German writer, philosopher, visionary and Christian mystic. “For Hildegard, viriditas encapsulated the divine force of Nature. Her definition was both literal (as in “green”, “greenness”, and “growth”) as well as metaphorical (as in “vigor”, “freshness”, and “vitality”). In many of her writings, viriditas was the greening power of God - present in everything living and non-living. This “greenness” was an expression of heaven and the creative power of life, which can be witnessed in the gardens, forests, and (farm) lands all around us. She saw viriditas as something to be cultivated in both our bodies and our souls. Viriditas was meant to reflect Nature’s divine healing power, a constant force.
This combination of Spirit and Nature inherent in viriditas speaks to me powerfully as I lay on the ground watching leaf cutter ants or gazing up into tall tree canopies while watching the white clouds roll by in blue skies. It speaks to me during forest meditations and while listening to the sounds of Nature in silent dawns or in midnight thunderstorms.
Through my experiences of people, cultures, and places of other bioregions and nations, I'm just now beginning to understand the fundamental unity that underlies all things. And as I put my eye to the viewfinder, I'm trying to capture that elusive feeling of oneness with that greening force of the Universe - something that can't be truly be experienced by anything but the heart.
"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found was really going in."
- John Muir, Naturalist
In 1994 Kim Stanley Robinson (in his Hugo Award-winning book, Green Mars), described human activities that would begin to terraform Mars by allowing plants to grow there and referred to viriditas as “the green force of life, expanding into the Universe.” The theme of viriditas underlies much of the character and plot development in his awarded trilogy Red Mars - Green Mars - Blue Mars. After reading this story, I became aware of viriditas regularly during my photographic forays in South Florida and in Costa Rica.
In 2002, Azam Ali - modern day Iranian singer/musician released her first solo album, Portals of Grace. In the liner notes, she wrote of being inspired by music written by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179 CE) German writer, philosopher, visionary and Christian mystic. “For Hildegard, viriditas encapsulated the divine force of Nature. Her definition was both literal (as in “green”, “greenness”, and “growth”) as well as metaphorical (as in “vigor”, “freshness”, and “vitality”). In many of her writings, viriditas was the greening power of God - present in everything living and non-living. This “greenness” was an expression of heaven and the creative power of life, which can be witnessed in the gardens, forests, and (farm) lands all around us. She saw viriditas as something to be cultivated in both our bodies and our souls. Viriditas was meant to reflect Nature’s divine healing power, a constant force.
This combination of Spirit and Nature inherent in viriditas speaks to me powerfully as I lay on the ground watching leaf cutter ants or gazing up into tall tree canopies while watching the white clouds roll by in blue skies. It speaks to me during forest meditations and while listening to the sounds of Nature in silent dawns or in midnight thunderstorms.
Through my experiences of people, cultures, and places of other bioregions and nations, I'm just now beginning to understand the fundamental unity that underlies all things. And as I put my eye to the viewfinder, I'm trying to capture that elusive feeling of oneness with that greening force of the Universe - something that can't be truly be experienced by anything but the heart.
"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found was really going in."
- John Muir, Naturalist
All images © Christopher P. Migliaccio
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316 photos
Austria: Salzburg & Vienna
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Canada: Vancouver, British Columbia
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Germany: The Dachau Memorial
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North Florida
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Panama: Guna Yala Islands & the Panama Canal
Galleries 2
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717 photos
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Galleries 15
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3294 photos
Washington, DC
Visitors 2
16 photos
Created 16-Aug-23
Modified 16-Aug-23
