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Notre Dame in Flames: Symbolic Destruction & Collapse

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(@stargazer)
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Joined: 5 years ago
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It would be wonderful to see a shining crystal piece atop the Cathedral, if only it weren't so heavy. I had to consider the fact that it is also heat retentive and magnifying, lol, so maybe there's an alchemist that come up with a crystal substance that is neutral but still as gorgeous... we should propose that to the restoration team ? 

I did see that the three treasured windows were free from damage, and it was the some of the smaller ones that suffered... inevitable with the high heat of the fire. The expertise of the Paris firefighters was just amazing though! My impression of the Rose windows exploding was more along the lines of the symbolism of the whole disaster and the feeling of 'letting the light in'.

Another very strong impression came to me when I saw President Macron going to the front lines of the fire that evening in a short video on news..... he was striding so purposefully and though shock was on his face, he looked calmly assured.

As I watched, I got a strong flash of him in a long flowing black priest's robe, striding in that same way... couldn't pin the time down but it appeared to be the 17th/18th century, from the style of the cossack he was wearing (?) The feeling was very much a similar situation that he was determined to get to...

Then an even more clear and stronger impression came... I saw him in ancient Greece, wearing a fine white belted tunic with armbands that tied at the backs, and the laced sandals. It was a bright sunny day with blue sky and the sea behind him, and he looked very tanned and fit, sort of blondish... he was striding along again very vigorously and purposefully, and holding some long scrolls in his arms. And on his head was laurel wreath, a sign of his status as someone of wealth and influence and esteem.

He was an important man there, a planner or builder, or an architect, and had that same air of inquisitive intellect, an innovator. Perhaps his karma is entwined with the reconstruction of Notre Dame to be fulfilled in this time... he was certainly destined to bring his old soul into the present to be an important man once again.

 

 


   
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(@cdeanne)
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"The bees that live on the roof of Notre Dame are alive and buzzing, having survived the devastating fire that ripped through the cathedral..." Real and uplifting symbolic tenacity! https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/19/europe/notre-dame-bees-fire-intl-scli/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=2019-04-19T12%3A03%3A42&utm_source=fbCNN&fbclid=IwAR08fYLHkPaIIa21LMR1V535NSmWNIT1BvX3wuya0rHL6QCj1OdiCtedzOE


   
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(@michele-b)
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CDeanne,

That is wonderful and amazing news!

When I first heard that there were bee hives (on the roof) my first thought was please let them live! Bees are such a predictor of our survival as a race because of their role in pollination for fruit trees, flowers etc. amongst others.

They seemed so incredibly symbolic as they are such little icons of community and unity of purpose, all working together for keeping the queen and therefore the hive alive. But since hives are wooden it truly is a mircle they didn't burn.

The link says the hives were 30 metres below the roof line and that made all the difference for their hives and being use to bee keepers smoke even the smoke from the flames didn't chase them off. 

Hooray for Notre Dame's bees!!


   
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(@michele-b)
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And while cheering for Notre Dames bees (post above) I wanted to also add another update on the fire, itself.

The Notre Dame fire inspectors have reached preliminary conclusions on the fire itself. Reporting that the architect who oversaw the project of the fire safety system had admitted he musjudged  just how quickly a flame would ignite and spread through the cathedral.

And of course, sadly this is what heppened and it resulted in a much worse situation than they ever anticipated 

The NY Times says:

"The system was based on the assumption that if the cathedral ever caught fire, the ancient oak timbers in the attic would burn slowly, leaving ample time to fight the flames" (according to Inspector Benjamin Mouton)

Sadly, they misjudged the heavy timbers durability and frankly much more including the fire systems that were in place in the cathedral itself and the ability of the two guards to be able to tell between an alarm going off in error and one warning them of a fire without their having the personal ability to see it up on the roof or within the cathedrals complicated attic system. And they noted that the even a fit person would take a full 6 minutes to run up the steep stairs to access upper attic or roof levels. And that is too long for such a fire. It ended up taking fireman 20 minutes to arrive. Very sad in all ways

All of the other iconic buildings had actual fire teams on guard at all times as well as more extensive modern systems of sprinklers etc not just 2 security guards on site. Very sad in all ways.

It's all described in detail here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/world/europe/notre-dame-fire-safety.html


   
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(@luminata)
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So glad to see a celebration of the bees here :-)  This has a very personal spiritual resonation for me.  My paternal grandfather was a devout Catholic and also a bee keeper in his retirement.  I didn't know there were bees at Notre Dame, but to see they survived feel like a huge smile and hug from my grandpa.  He's been gone a little over 5 years now, but still here watching and helping.  

And bees are so important to our world ecosystem.  A true miracle here.

Much love to all!


   
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