Essays

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Rights of Man, as defined by the Biblical tradition, the Rosenkreutzer, and the Qabalist.

     It is unequivocal that man has free will. When laws are passed which hamper that free will, then it is the duty of men to regain that bit of paradise which was lost. So the founders of the American constitution understood. We have the right to pursue happiness, and no government can obstruct this. Did Abraham have papers to travel on when he chose to move. He went. The Egyptians called this the power of a god. To go. The ankh symbolized the sandal strap, that which protects the foot. The power to move. So it is said that many vote with their feet, but today the powers of international fascism are constricting the whole of humanity, so that they cannot vote with their feet.

    
The goals of an impudent little man with a funny little mustache to 'purify' the human race are being integrated into the tenets of modern society and so called law. Soon DNA will be required when a drivers license is acquired. You cannot travel freely without one, soon you will not be able to bear children without a DNA check as well as a psychological fitness test and profile. We should not seek permission from the state to travel, nor to breed or to raise our children. It is the welfare state, the haunting words of Mussolini and Kennedy, that you must ask the State what you can do for it. This socialism is a threat to all human progress. The kinder final solution, doled out by the caring left wing, enforced by the stoicism and formality of the right wing socialist, with one end. That the needs of the State override the needs of the individual.
     When we look to law, we look to the most ancient of documents. The 42 commandments of the Egyptians, the 10 commandments of the Bible a short version of the 42. The code of Hammurabi; in all they can be brought to the simple conduct of the civilized man, but not the State. As God warns; And the Lord told him: " Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected as  their king, but me. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."


     Samuel goes on to say; " This is what the king who will rule over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day." (Samuel I chap. 8). So much for the nation state, and trust in government. The implication is clear; men must be free, to work for themselves, to fight or be peaceful, to keep the profits they make, to go where they want to, and when they want to. No government can regulate travel, or the right of a man to defend himself. No one is a criminal until he has committed a crime, and must be judged before convicted.


  
     The people said that judges weren't enough for them, they wanted a king or president like other nations, and so the nation state began along with its slavery and constant attempt to usurp the rights of the individual. If Americans continue to give up their rights as they have in other nations, they shall become a nation of useless peasants as has occurred in Great Britain. They will live on the dole as they do in the rest of Europe, living from hand to mouth with few prospects. The military industrial complex will siphon off every bit of free capital so that there is none left to sustain a middle class. All they will do is survive as slaves of the state, living from pay check to pay check until the state disposes of their earthly remains, and takes their earthly property.


     The ten commandments do not suggest that you give 90% of your income to the state. Even with accounting for direct taxes, you work for the state for 6 or more months per anum. Add in the hidden taxes ( sales or vat taxes, excise duties, taxes on utilities, on petroleum products. automobile registration and more) and you are working for the organized extortion racket called government for 9 months out of the year, and they would hope to make that over 10 months per anum. The serfs in feudal Russia only worked 5 months a year for their overlords.
     Most of that money is spent, just as Samuel had warned, on military equipment and those who work for the military, as well as those who benefit from the profit of manufacturing of such equipment. Government officials who act as if they deserve a paycheck, too often incompetent or redundant, many times even completely unnecessary, whose benefits and pensions are presently destroying the economy, all continue to bring down the great nations of the west. The east rarely rises from the dark ages. They have been brutal for so long, they could not possibly maintain a free lifestyle. (It is pure living comedy that the U.S. government has 'invested' all pensions, including the american social security funds in treasury bonds. Thus, even the benefits it has taxed the people for are used to pay the governments bills. At this point, in truth, there is no money left in the S.S. or federal pension funds. It is not enough that they have bled them dry in their youth, now they will feast upon them in their dotage.)


     The founders of the constitution, those of the protestant elector system in Germany, and few others (it is said that much of the American constitution was based upon the Iroquois confederation laws, I have only lightly perused them), had envisioned a free society where men could flourish. Where men bonded together in the common cause of defense and were left to freely pursue their happiness. Government fiat, which forces men to live a life of slavery cannot be tolerated. The War between the states was not to end slavery as it was made to appear, but to enforce slavery upon the whole populace, ending states rights, the right of the individual to choose their approach to reality. (In the past many would vote with their feet if one state became too repressive. Now they are pretty much the same, as federalists make most of the policy. There is no point in moving to another state for freedom, there is none.)

     Bonded servitude is still forced upon the unsuspecting; millions of them have lost their homes in the last 5 years, to a market controlled by monopolies, who artificially inflated housing and land prices through an effort of the government to cover up the siphoning off of all capitol from the economy to fund a pointless colonialist war. This has ruined the economy, made housing unaffordable, and forced the created exchange into fewer and fewer hands. Since the economy went slack from government usurpation of everything for a pointless war effort, they printed more money, and hoped it would create enough exchange to keep the middle class placated, hiding the excess money in inflated real estate prices.


     It did not. It rose to the top, which is all currency will do if monopolies are tolerated. They are the failing of capitalism. They hoped that by putting the money into real`estate it would save the economy from inflation heating things up. There was no inflation, the rich just got richer, and everyone else got poorer. You could call this welfare for the rich, which it undoubtedly was, but that was not the intention. The hope was that jobs would be created by housing, and the sales of building materials. Builders used scab labor, cutting corners where ever possible, and big corporations sold the building materials often manufactured abroad. So the money trickled up, and the middle class disappeared.You cannot fight a war effort without a middle class, and the governments attempt to float the middle class through money printing only made the rich richer. To top it all, the military did not do well in all its conflicts and are now in retreat. The Generals kept on requesting just a few more years to straighten things out. After a decade of war, the proof that colonialism as an economic system does not work and only impoverishes the colonial power has been proven again, as has the logic that war is good for the economy. It is good for the rich, and has impoverished our nations. The greatness that was the Euro/American civilization is now in terrible decline; brought about by money grubbing war mongers.


     What was the warning of Samuel. The presidency now is a kind of chairmanship, where the plans of the corporation are carried out. Whom ever is elected, the goals and economies of the
guv/corp will be carried out. That is why the present top position has carried out the plans of the prior regime. Its the same corporation, no matter who is chairman. This dialectic was developed by Benito Mussolini, who postulated that Fascism is the merging of the corporation with the state. Exactly what Samuel said would happen; the officials and attendants rewarding themselves, with an agreed upon chairperson acting as king on a rotating basis. Always business as usual, the enslavement of humanity.

     Now that the few who own the means of production have forced the military industrial complex upon us, a system where they can reap great profits,  they will enforce a new tax regime upon everyone. A new way to steal money. As they did with Social Security, they will treat the funds which are harvested for health care as a new tax. They will bankrupt this as they have Social Security, and then ask for new taxes. It will never end, as Samuel warned.
     To return to Biblical tenets we must remember that until Leviticus and Deuteronomy the laws are considerably strait forward often based upon common sense. Then men seem to beceome more barbaric, and so new rules are encoded. Here though is where controversy arises. Sometimes it is clearly Mosaic, but often times it seems manipulative. There are as you might already know, several renderings of the Bible. The King James version was an earnest attempt to render a clear translation, not only in English, but with the goal of ending disputes upon the doctrines, and eradicating Roman Catholic manipulations of the Biblical texts to further their own ends (usually enrichment).
     There are several different versions of the bible. The priesthood was responsible for manipulating the truth to their own ends. When Israelites enjoyed prostitutes more than wives, the priests decided that Jews could only marry other Jews. This of course is against Mosaic law, and men are allowed to partake of prostitutes as in the case of Judah.Even Martin Luther tolerates prostitution. One must cross correspond biblical laws to determine their genuineness. As Genesis tells us to maintain a vegetarian diet, so does the Book of Daniel. You must make sense out of the bible in order to correctly follow the law. In ignorance, do what seems right, pending future variance in interpretation, but realize that there are conflicts in the biblical texts. As a guide though, the wise man can find all truth, and the simple people, an easy guide to sensible conduct.
     The Catholic is the most pagan of religions today, clothing itself in the misnomers and  falsifications of the Paulists and other extremist cultists who use the term biblical to fulfill their ends whenever possible. Paul who was Saul, managed to crush Christianity in a single lifetime, of course with the great machine of the Roman state, and has left a plethora of false christian cults as an edifice to his foundation of a slave cult, which is still utilized in the manipulation of the individual and termination of personal rights and freedom by existing governments today.
     What is most inherently clear in the Torah or Pentateuch, that is the laws left by Moses, is that men must choose to serve God as well as to live by His code. The Israelites since the time of Abraham asked those who lived with them to carry out the covenant of circumcision, or to camp outside of their houses ( or away from but near their camp). If the code of conduct was kept when gentiles were around those who accept God, then they could be allies of a sort. If the gentile accepted the laws then they could become Israelites. Therefore, anyone who lives by biblical law, calls themselves a Christian or Moslem, is an Israelite.

   
 The so called Holy war being fought now in the middle east, is just a form of imperialism and colonialism, with both sides guilty of Imperialist leanings. The Jews sense of exclusivity is wrong; they are to set an example to the rest of humanity for what a Holy people should be ( and have unfortunately not done so.). The simplest of rules given in the Bible for eating is a vegetarian diet as is given in Genesis v.29; "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole Earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
     As men grew more barbaric, codes were initiated to stem the crudeness of their diet and try to create a code to prevent illness and the spread of disease. Keeping to the ten commandments, and the simple dietary code of Genesis makes an approach to biblical law easier to follow. As Christ gave his simple advice in the two principles he set forth being to love one another and do unto others as you would have done to yourself, much of old testament law is easy to follow. The harshness is taken away. He who is without sin, cast the first stone.
     In terms of marriage, man cannot commit adultery unless it is with another mans wife. The issue today is that people do not want to live by Gods law. People born as Christian, Jew and sometimes moslem, no longer wish to ascribe to the laws of God. Let God judge them. We are absolved from being Gods executioner, by Christ. Some people today; what we shall call the neofascist, both left wing and right, struggle to prove that freedom is not a God given right. The left want us to bend to their scatter brained schemes, the right to their hideous repression, all presuming that they have a right to tell everyone what to do. Even those of the right wing who would force Gods laws, or their interpretation of Gods laws upon everyone, are breaking Christs command.

   
    This brings us to the final judgement. Should we fear the Lord. Unequivocally so; it is said to be in awe of God, Pachad is the Hebrew term. Yet we must not do a thing out of fear, we must do what is right. God will know the difference, and if there is punishment to be had, it will be just. I should rather think that the punishment will come from neglect by the Lord as opposed to His decided wrath. Those who have accepted the Lord are punishable by Him and His powers; those who have not, are on their own.
     The fear of many religious people is that if 'sinners' are tolerated, Gods wrath will be upon all. It is only those who openly accept God, but privately deny His rule who are to fear. The first rule is; 'He who is without sin, cast the first stone". Often most are not fit to judge. We cannot risk sinning by destroying the 'sinner', we may be wrong to judge, and so destroy ourselves. The tenets of the Biblical tradition have been abused. Christ came to end that abuse. It is said, that so have other prophets. Murderers under the guise of religion, whether it be Islam or Christianity have found an excuse to tyrannize their fellow man when ever the justification for moral depravity has arisen. As Christ has said; 'cast the first stone if you are without sin.'
     Men often murder because they like to. We must watch this side of nature. It is there to protect, not to abuse. When the Israeli murders the Philistine, he does so because he thinks that God has given him all the land as proscribed in the ancient bible. Yet if he read, he will find that the Lord took that away. It will be given back to Israel, not taken back.
     As has been conjectured in the Zohar; Men sought to overturn the rule of God. They learned to control the angels, and thought they could control the flood, so that He would not be able to kill them all. They gained control over the angel of Fire, and the angel of water, to no avail. The Lord is beyond them, and rules over the Earth. Though men can move freely about the Earth, and do as they please, the only law of the Land, is Gods law, as the Earth is owned by Him. When the pre-diluvians refused to live in accordance with the Law of God, the flood came, as natural as nature could be.

   
 There is a supernatural force, emanating from God, which can control natural events in the world. Yet man cannot use supernatural force to control God. We are free, free to even turn against the Lord. Actions have a price, but freedoms cannot be restricted by government fiat.

     Now to Quote from Meyer as taken from General Fuller; "The Qabalah does not recognize in the Good and Evil, two independent, automatic, opposing powers, but both are according to it, under the power of the Supreme Absolute Deity. It asserts that the Evil springs out of the Good, and only originated from a diversion of the latter. Evil exists, for Gods own wise purpose, by the sufferance of the Absolute One, who gives us the blighting cold, frost, and night, and also the beneficent and blessed daylight warmth, and sunshine. Man there fore partakes of two regions, that of the external, visible, matter world, that of Evil and Darkness, and that of the internal spiritual higher world, that of Goodness and Light.
    
The German Philosopher Hegel holds that a thing can only exist through its opposite, that the thing and its opposite must arise together, and that eternally, as the complements of a unity; white is not without black, nor black without white, good is not without evil, nor is evil without good. This is the doctrine of the Siphrah D'Tzinoothah and the Sepher Ye'tzeer-ah. At the very beginning of the life germ, dissolution and death oppose its vitality and endeavor to destroy it, and the whole existence of man in this world is a continual struggle to preserve his vitality. Isaiah says, in his magnificent language : "I am YHVH, and there is none else, there is not Elohim besides Me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me; that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am YHVH, and there is none else. I from light create darkness; I make safety and I create misfortune; I YHVH do all these things."


     Isaiah's words are pure Qabalah; for instance in the Zohar we read :

   
  "Observe", he said, "that the Holy One, blessed be He, made a Right and a Left for the ruling of the world. The one is called 'good', and the other evil', and He made man to be a combination of the two.


     General Fuller goes on to say; Between these opposites of good and evil is placed the free will of man, which establishes harmony between them and by which man exercises the divine power of judgment. Man is, therefore, a living representative of the Tree of Life, each Sephirah is both good and evil: good in its relation to the Sephirah immediately above it, and evil in its relation to the Sephirah immediately below it.


     When Jacob demands his blessing from the angel, is he being willful, is he being evil, or is he acting out of the sense of free will. Knowing the need for blessing, as being left to nature red in tooth and claw leaves bad odds for the man, he asks for that which will benefit him most. He does not covet his neighbors goods, but expects favor to be offered to him. At least he realizes that to exist is to seek good fortune.


     What then motivates, guilt, respect, dignity or resolve. As God says in Hosea; 'Ephraim has chosen prostitution'. Men must be free to chose as they will. If they do a thing in their heart, they are doing that thing. When men are true to their devotions, then such will not be a part of their desire nature. We can only transcend debased desire nature by elevating it, and must have the free will to do so. No government to regulate us, only to protect the rights of the individual. As we cannot force our wishes upon another, so they or the government cannot force their will or agenda upon us.


     It cannot be said that God does not punish the wicked, yet He gives them the freedom to be wicked. It cannot be said that the Earth will not stand judgement; it will, but this cannot alter the judgment of every individual soul. Life is a subtle force, and holding on by a thread. Without Gods blessings, it may be extinguished. Yet men have a right to freely pursue their extinction. 


  
We can live where we want to, and work to gain the wealth to do the same, or to roam the world. We cannot encroach upon the rights of others. The biblical edicts are to be carried out by those who choose to live by them, we cannot force them on others. There are many other statements of free will, that is freedom in the laws of Holiness. Strive to find them and you will see how easy it is to determine that freedom is a God given right.    More to follow.
















Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The saddle for varied uses and equestrian martial arts

     The equestrian arts have been with civilized man for millennia. It is not only the royal arte, but has b out the nobility in many. We can mock the froufrou effeteness of modern dressage, but must remember that it has its roots in the battlefield. To the useless nouveau-riche who have turned many off to the art of the horse, we can only turn aside and look the other way. These people seek acceptance which stems from the roots planted by every tinpot dictator history has ever foisted upon the human race. They should be ashamed of themselves, but let God judge, and not us. If it brings them happiness and harms us not, to each his own.


What remains of the monarchy is simply an extension of this bourgeous approach to life. If they have the money they live like playboys, if not they wish they could. Few have the learning or martial skills which have been indicative of the concept of nobility for centuries. Ones Nobility comes from Divinity; and so a humble shepherd was made King.

Power has its corrupting tendencies, but discipline helps to save one from being corrupted absolutely. Hence the necessity of the Equestrian discipline. 
                        

     There are many Martial forms to be practiced upon the horse. Often vanity has ruled those who take an interest in the horse, but the shear discipline tends to sober the flightiest of souls. To list some of the many Martial arts upon the horse there are; Lance, Spear, Archery, the Joust, the Sword, the Gun, Pegging, and their various uses and applications. You can land a spear into a target and then draw sword and run a course practicing 'lobbing off heads', then take a lance and practice upon the quintain and next draw your bow from your side and follow a triple course of targets at a gallop loosing as many arrows into each target as is possible. The art is meant to be applied and developed to your own needs, skillset, and mind for fun.

     The art takes time to develop, but is dependent mostly upon self discipline. It is essential to be comfortable in the saddle. If it is not fun though, why do it? We find that things which are developmental can be fun as well. Those who seek to achieve usually enjoy what they are doing. If you do not have disciplines you follow, you will tend to do little in life. Generally the rule is, if you are not your own master, it is probable that someone else will be. Discipline builds skills, and capability awards one with decisiveness. This grants us the will to power; that is the ability and wish to succeed.


     The problem with modern society is that all achievement is measured in money, instead of in prowess, and why mediocrity is setting in. If we are to fight well in the saddle then we must be comfortable in the saddle. It is often best to start with conventional training on the horse, that is dressage, hunt seat equitation, that which grants the skill to stay in the saddle and control a horse. Yet more, it is to learn to develop a relationship with your horse. They are sentient beings. They must become comfortable with you, and the arts you practice.
     If your horse believes in you, you can trust in your horse. They too must become familiar with what it is you are doing.
     A horse must become comfortable with the gear you are using. For after all he is using it too. Adjustments to saddle and pad along with cinch make some difference to the horse, as does hearing an arrow loosed, or a gun shot. The horse must be exposed to this on the ground. After they are accustomed then you can mount and being to practice firing. Guns are the hardest for a horse, as is someone charging at you with a lance or hitting you with a sword.
If you are to tilt, then practice with the quintain first. After the horse is accustomed to hearing it hit, and knowing it is you doing the hitting, he will find it less taxing when you go against another rider. They are very observant. They have little else to do. Do not berate your horses intelligence.


     Surprisingly enough the horse adapts to most tasks. This is fortunate for us. We must not forget that this is in their genes. The horse has been used in combat for over 2000 years. If you fight regularly your horse will become accustomed to it, and even enjoy it. Horses know how to provoke their opponent, and can be an aid to throwing off balance the other rider and to scaring the other horse into avoidance behavior.

An interesting read.



      The movements of dressage were for use with the sword, dagger or mace in close combat. The 'dance' moves create a constant movement. You do not want your horse locking up. To be fluid he must be in constant motion. People who sit on their horse and swing a sword, are not using their horse and will usually lose. The horse is not an artillery platform. Constant motion is essential in combat.

 

   As ever, we keep a light seat for most combat on horse. The horse enjoys subtle signals, almost non existent. Making your mount used to staying light on his feet comes with practice and good training. A well trained horse gets the message quickly, and will respond in hand.




      We have seen a paint, an American horse, well trained, who quickly, that is within one afternoon comprehended what was expected of him. He performed beautifully. He was trained to be light on his feet. He ran all courses, jousted, and responded to the sword as if born to it. So breed is not essential. training is.

     Staying off the horses back, a light seat is helpful, especially when going over a jump. It helps with sword, though it is easy to sit into the saddle to relay the signals given by the legs. A good horse will respond well to this, and it is essential. I still try to keep a soft seat if possible. I want my horse to connect to my upper leg though, so I convey the idea of constant motion with my body. Attempting to sit a little lighter allows the idea that we are moving and not to stop and stand while exchanging blows.




     We must be comfortable in the seat. This leads us onto the subject of the saddle itself. Each of us must inevitably choose which saddle is best. For most practical work an all purpose Stubben is good. I do not recommend it for combat though.








There are many other choices. I give you here a selection of saddles to look at,  which can be used for all around combat. I do not suggest modern saddles though there are many which will prove useful.


 This is my favorite for regular use. It has a comfortable seat for a long time in the saddle and grants support for some of the rigorous things you might be doing in it.





     This one is being made today. A more fancy version of the Portuguese saddle. Less practical for combat.






     But what if disaster strikes? I don't believe the Portuguese will add to the pain. You must be comfortable with whatever you use, no matter what anyone tells you.

  


     As can be seen, the Portuguese can be useful in
many positions.
    



   It is easy to keep your seat in varied circumstance. For whatever you choose, it seems to be of great assistance.



    


     The Camargue is another saddle of choice for combat, yet I
do prefer the Portuguese to this.







   

 I have not tried this one out, but just want one. The Grimsley Dragoon.
 I won't even imagine that this is good for combat, maybe just shooting out  of the saddle. This remains to be seen during practice.





    Here is an example of a
    Medieval saddle.











I don't care for any Asian saddles I've see. They have been conquered peoples for so long, who knows what they actually used. Here are some examples:




     The Japanese




                                                                      The Mongol.


     This is the sword developed by General George Patton Jr. when he was in charge of such affairs. He recommends following the Napoleanic approach, to use it like a spear (head on the left of the horses neck, extended sword on the righting giving little target). If you do the traditional charge with it, that is slash front quick slash back, he says it only has the potential to break bones and might not do much else in the way of damage, often not able to cut through the coat a cavalryman might be wearing. Who can say.
     What we can say is that Equestrian combat is a great discipline, and much fun as well. For me, all time disappears when fighting in the saddle. The best I have learned from the Japanese is to apply the techniques of Ai Ki Do to all combat. When you set yourself up for the ride, visualize the pure clear light flowing through you and your mount, from the heavens above to the center of the Earth. Then Extend this beam to your target (as in the unbendable arm practice.). If shooting keep it between eye and target. If fighting; see the winning blow landed when you visualize through it as it passes from heaven to earth. If you are jumping or charging, see it first, perfect in your minds visualization, with yourself happy after completing it.
        
                                                See yourself on the other side; the 'Victor'.






Monday, July 9, 2012

Sell your cloak and buy a sword.

     You might find that you would like to practice and develop a method of using the sword. People today are developing the ideas as depicted in the Codex Wallerstein.

 
      I like the approach of the people at www.hammaborg.de http://youtu.be/Fv-Vut0xb9Y. You might also like to check on SwArtaMartialArts, they too offer the developing techniques of ancient western martial arts.


      You will find a great deal on youtube and the internet. In many ways you must choose the path you follow, but this can be done by what attracts you. 


     You will find many techniques, and they should include grappling. Your goal should be to stay away from your opponent, but when that choice is gone, a response to an attacker should be learned. It must be remembered that the west had very serious martial arts, in many ways similar to the eastern, but noticeably adapted to the western temperment.


      There are numerous people and groups attempting to work out the techniques depicted in old books. They seem to be making sense out of them. There are many videos offering a view of different techniques

     You can find this Judo bayonet practice video on youtube. Its techniques can be used with a 6 foot pole for practice, and are very effective.

                       The Mairs Codex will also give you many ideas to experiment with.


      If you ride, there are people associated with Hammaborg de. who have worked on developing these techniques for use while on horseback.
      I have found many youtube videos for knife fighting. I am not impressed with them. Possibly I have not seen enough of them. There are numerous modern techniques, which seem lacking, so you will just have to review the techniques and see if you can adopt anything in a practical fashion.


     I would approach all of this as a sport, which can be very useful if things get bad. As we have been warned to learn the art of the sword by prophecy, we must remember the civility and respect for life inherent in the biblical traditions, especially to those who are Christian. Avoid conflict, but be capable of self defense, if the need should arise. Though this post is short, you will find a few hours of useful video to watch, so it really is one of our longest efforts. We hope you find this of interest.