The Luminous Gardens of Lucius Pym

Some of what follows is true; some of what follows is invention. All of what follows is technically defensible and intended to entertain and inform.

Lucius Pym is unlikely ever to have come to public attention due to his strong reclusive inclinations and obscure transmutation experiments. Having acquired considerable wealth from his discovery of the Pym Molecular Sieve, he procured a modest tract of land in the Mount Shasta wilderness. It was to this area that he withdrew to continue his researches undisturbed by the incessant supplications of querulous colleagues. I would probably never have heard of him had concatenations of nature not intervened.

While conducting research into forest ecosystems in the Mount Shasta region, I was driven to my knees by an earthquake of sizeable proportions even by California standards. The earth rocked, heaved, and as I struggled to regain my balance, the ground beneath me dropped precipitously into a newly opened chasm. Pummeled by cascading boulders, I lapsed mercifully into unconsciousness.

Upon regaining awareness, I found myself in an enclosed space, which could only be subterranean. I was in a vaulted chamber of vast extents and in every direction passages led off, their destinations obscured by meandering geometries. Stalagmites and stalactites met each other in a profusion of static flow. This much was familiar to me from my own spelunking experience but here the similarity ended.

Light! The entire edifice was suffused by a soft, multihued light. Every color of the spectrum was represented. Every surface glowed. I looked overhead and saw directly above me an area roughly fifty feet in extent colored many different shades of green interspersed with small patches of robins egg blue. Off in the distance, this blended into an area colored by every hue found in a ripened peach. And so it went. Every surface from the dome overhead to the ground beneath me radiated soothing subdued light.

As my mind reeled from this vast array of color, and began to focus on details I was astounded to see geometric patterns, which defined the areas of color, and these patterns were clearly identifiable as life forms. In fact, they mostly appeared to be variants of recognizable flowers and shrubs. The overall effect, gradually merging into a vast tapestry off in the distance was stunningly beautiful. Something familiar in the geometry of the coloring arrangements was nattering at my memory.

Accentuating the overall effect was a subtle but distinctive perfume generated by a multitude of different plants. One moment the scent of orange blossom, followed by the distinctive force of jasmine, then a whiff of ethereal rose. It was olfactory heaven. One could lay down with closed eyes and be transported on a cloud of fragrance.

A pervasive seamless silence was unbroken by any sound but water. Nearby the distinctive sound of a river played counterpoint to a waterfall off in the distance, all heard but not seen. But that was all, no insects, no birds, and no animals. Just silence. No, I thought, this is simply not real! I am still unconscious from the fall and my mind is paying respects to Jules Verne.

Pretty isnt it? said a voice behind me. Startled, I turned and beheld a man of about sixty, whose general appearance could best be described as craggy. His features seemed to be comprised of sharply intersecting planes, which shifted in sinewy smoothness as he moved leaving the impression of an animated cubist painting. He looked as though he could have been a living extension of the basaltic rock upon which he sat. That area of his head not covered by a fir cap appeared to be bald. He had an intense inquisitive gaze, a vast white beard and was an albino. He wore black denim overalls, which formed a marked contrast to his alabaster features. Overall, his was a striking presence. Please allow me to introduce myself, said he; I am Lucius Pym.

Here we run into YouTube space limitations. The narrative continues on my website with full accompanying fractal illustration.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• fractals
• environment
• nature
• color
• light
• garden
• caves
• fractal
• art
• flowers
• philosophy
• science
• religion
• Fibonacci
• golden
• mean
• metaphysical
• spiritual
• mandela
• archetype

[abysimus]

Viewers of this video will note that YouTube has started using me as a billboard. Sticking inconspicuous ads by Google over on the right is a reasonable price to pay for using third party music in my soundtrack. Plastering ads across the face of my artwork in the video is, however, inexcusable. It ruins my work. I apologize to my viewers for this intrusion and rest assured these ads are not placed by me or endorsed by me.

Thank you for your forbearance - Abysimus -

[blackchisel97]

Amazing story and as usual - great feast for senses. Your videos Abysimus are the main reason I would like to have a really big monitor :))

Thank you for 20 minutes of relax and inspiration.(I watched twice in a row).

Regards

[abysimus]

Great to hear from you Blackchisel97! I know what you mean about a really big monitor. I would like to get a projector that covers a whole wall. My absolute dream, though, would be to convert my videos to play on the Enterprise Holodeck so that I could walk through them.

As always your kind words are a great boost to my spirit. Thank you!

[jikkehond]

A very interesting video and beautiful classical music. ♥♥Je@nnette♥