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Energy

Volume XV, Number 2 | winter 2024

Miscellany

In the Himalayan valley of Kullu, in Himachal Pradesh, there sits a Shiva temple on whose property is erected a sixty-foot iron pole. According to an ancient tradition, the pole attracts the “blessing of heaven,” and a Shiva lingam is placed underneath. During storms the pole acts as a lightning rod, carrying electricity down to the lingam and shattering the object. The broken pieces are collected by the temple priest and used for the next blessing.

Will and energy sometimes prove greater than either genius or talent or temperament.

—Isadora Duncan, c. 1902

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The Colosseum, attributed to Robert Eaton, c. 1855.
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Fitness instructor carves his girlfriend’s name into the Colosseum.

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Thompson of Sunderland makes his mark on Pompey’s pillar.

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