Wednesday, February 9

In Search Of The Birth Of Spirits At Eden

Eden Project
As my wife and I walked through the forest in search of the Birth of Spirits rock painting it was hot. So hot it was almost steaming, we could barely make out the small bird feasting on some sort of fruit in the trees (photo above).

Rain Forest
Gradually, as we continued walking, things became clearer and a small stream somehow guided the sunlight through as it mastered its rocky river bed.

Inside Eden Project biomes
River in Eden biome
Suddenly, there it was. The picture we had hoped to find painted on the rocks - the Birth of Spirits (photo below).

The story is that when the spirit was born, all the flowers and plants were also born. The first were Tobaco Bravo to purify and Campanita del Campo to announce the birth. The sun and moon are shown giving energy to the birth.

Native painting; Birth of Spirits
Pleased with our find we continued on our way and passed a bamboo hut (pic below) where we were invited inside to rest.

Bamboo hut
Nearby was a stall (below) with bananas and other herbs and spices - it seems that the banana is actually a herb. I didn't realise this.

Stall at Eden
A little further we discovered a gathering of wooden totems and also some unusual forest flowers growing high in the trees.

totems
Unusual flowers at the Eden Project
There is no getting away from it, the Eden Project in Cornwall, England holds a host of mysteries - including an enormous bee happily collecting nectar beside the huge biomes that hold many of the exhibits.

Giant bee at Eden
Eden Project biomes
But there is much more to Eden than this. There are the gardens with a multitude of flowers and plants, depending on the season. And to think that this whole project has been built within an old deserted clay pit and is now a major visitor attraction.

There is also the Core learning centre (two photos below) with all sorts of interesting items about plants and the environment in general.

Eden Project Core learning centre
Core at Eden Project Cornwall
The Core also houses the Seed sculpture (pic below) made from a 167 tonne block of Cornish granite. This took two years to complete and had to be lowered into position by the largest crane in Europe.

The quote is that the Seed 'carries nature's design blueprint and pays homage to working with the grain of nature. It serves as a reminder to us all - forever - encouraging respect and a duty to hope for the future.'

Seed the granite sculpture at Eden project
On our last visit to Eden there was also an art exhibition:

Art exhibition at Eden Project
Exit signs at Eden Project
Eden Project Biomes
My wife and I, and my son and family, often visit the Eden Project as we are lucky enough to have passes for a year (otherwise it would cost £18 [about $25] per adult per visit). Our six month old grandson has already been twice. Not on his own, of course! Hopefully he will grow with a respect and love of nature and the environment.

Other Eden Project Posts:
The Rites Of Dionysus The God Of Wine
The Giant Rubbish Alien Monster

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Photos: © Mike Perry 2011

5 comments:

  1. How beautiful! One of those photos - several of them - resembled jungles in the amazon! Great post, Mike.
    wv: dessea
    in spanish, desea means I desire and I was just thinking of my bucket list and this spot

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  2. great post and photos mike looks a fantastic place

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  3. This place is amazing Mike! Thanks for taking me along...I love vicarious travel. Great photos.

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  4. I wish I could travel there from Hungary. It must be beautiful! And I want to say thank you in the name of all of the friends of our environment and nature. The best thing we can do is to grow our children in friendship with our Earth!

    I wish you all the best from Hungary!


    My "green" blog :)
    http://foldinfo.blogspot.com

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  5. There for a minute I too thought you were in the jungles of The Amazon. Wonderful pictures and post, thank you for sharing this.

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