Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century. Primarily a performance art, it is also used in education and as a movement therapy. The word eurythmy stems from Greek roots meaning beautiful or harmonious rhythm. The term was used by Greek and Roman architects to refer to the harmonious proportions of a design or building.

The gestures that build the basic movement repertoire of a eurythmist are connected to the sounds and rhythms of language, to the tonal experience of music, to fundamental soul experiences such as joy and sorrow. Once this fundamental repertoire is mastered, it can be composed into free artistic expressions. The eurythmist also works to cultivate a feeling for the qualities of straight lines and curves, the directions of movement in space, contraction and expansion, and color.

The element of color is also emphasized both through the costuming, usually given characteristic colors for a piece, and formed of long, loose fabrics that accentuate the movements rather than the bodily form, and through the lighting, which saturates the space and changes with the moods of the piece. Copper eurythmy rods and copper balls are used in various eurythmy exercises, including therapeutic exercises.

Eurythmy’s aim is to bring the artists’ expressive movement and both the performers’ and audience’s feeling experience into harmony with a piece’s content. Eurythmy is thus sometimes called visible music or visible speech, expressions that originate with its founder, Rudolf Steiner, who described eurythmy as an art of the soul.

When performing eurythmy with music, the three major elements of music, melody, harmony and rhythm, are all expressed. The melody is primarily conveyed through expressing its rise and fall, the specific pitches, and the intervallic qualities present. Harmony is expressed through movement between tension and release, as expressions of dissonance and consonance, and between the more inwardly directed minor mood and the outwardly directed major mood.

Breaths or pauses are expressed through a larger or smaller movement in space, giving new impulse to what follows. Beat is conveyed through greater emphasis of downbeats, or those beats upon which stress is normally placed. Beat is generally treated as a subsidiary element, expressed through greater emphasis on the down beats. Eurythmy has only occasionally been done to popular music, in which beat plays a large role.

The timbre of individual instruments is brought into the quality both of the tonal gestures and the whole movement of the eurythmist. Usually there will be a different eurythmist or group of eurythmists expressing each instrument, for example in chamber or symphonic music.

Eurythmy is used therapeutically, normally on the advice of a physician, to compensate for somatic or psychological imbalances. The aim is to strengthen the organism’s salutogenic capacity to heal itself. Eurythmy has also been used in many social contexts, including workplaces and prisons, with the aim of rejuvenating individuals and their social relationships.

Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species. For thousands of years, goats have been used for their milk, meat, hair, and skins over much of the world. In the twentieth century they also gained in popularity as pets. Neolithic farmers began to keep goats for easy access to milk and meat. Historically, goat hide has been used for water and wine bottles in both traveling and transporting wine for sale. It has also been used to produce parchment. Domestic goats were generally kept in herds that wandered on hills or other grazing areas, often tended by goatherds who were frequently children or adolescents. These methods of herding are still used today.

They are reputed to be willing to eat almost anything. The digestive systems of a goat allow nearly any organic substance to be broken down and used as nutrients. Contrary to this reputation, they are quite fastidious in their habits, preferring to browse on the tips of woody shrubs and trees, as well as the occasional broad leaved plant. Their plant diet is extremely varied and includes some species which are otherwise toxic. They will seldom consume soiled food or contaminated water unless facing starvation. 

Goats are extremely curious and intelligent. They are easily housebroken and trained to pull carts and walk on leads. They are also known for escaping their pens. Goats will test fences, either intentionally or simply because they are handy to climb on. If any of the fencing can be spread, pushed over or down, or otherwise be overcome, the goats will escape. Being very intelligent, once a weakness in the fence has been exploited, it will be repeatedly exploited until they determine it can no longer be overcome. Goats are very coordinated and can climb and hold their balance in precarious places. Goats are also widely known for their ability to climb trees, although the tree generally has to be on somewhat of an angle.

Goats will explore anything new or unfamiliar in their surroundings. They do so primarily with their prehensile upper lip and tongue. This is why they investigate items such as buttons, camera cases or clothing by nibbling at them, occasionally even eating them. They have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, an adaptation which increases peripheral depth perception.

A fainting goat is a breed of domestic goat whose muscles freeze for roughly 10 seconds when the goat is startled. Though painless, this generally results in the animal collapsing on its side. The characteristic is caused by a hereditary genetic disorder. When startled, younger goats will stiffen and fall over. Older goats learn to spread their legs or lean against something when startled, and often they continue to run about in an awkward, stiff-legged shuffle.

According to Norse mythology, Thor, the god of thunder, has a chariot that is pulled by goats. At night when he sets up camp, Thor eats the meat of the goats, but take care that all bones remain whole. Then he wraps the remains up, and in the morning, the goats always come back to life to pull the chariot. 

The goat has had a lingering connection with Satanism and pagan religions, even into modern times. The pentagram, a symbol used in Satanism, is said to be shaped like a goat’s head. In 2009, a car thief was accused of turning into a goat in Nigeria.

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. A variety of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches have been taken to defining happiness and identifying its sources.

Research has identified a number of correlates with happiness. These include religious involvement, parenthood, marital status, age, income and proximity to other happy people. Happiness economics suggests that measures of public happiness should be used to supplement more traditional economic measures when evaluating the success of public policy.

Michael Argyle developed The Oxford Happiness Inventory as a broad measure of psychological well being. This measures happiness as an aggregate of self esteem, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness, sense of humor and aesthetic appreciation. This has been criticized for lacking a theoretical model of happiness and because it is felt that certain aspects overlap.

There is now extensive research suggesting that religious people are happier and less stressed. Surveys by Gallup, the National Opinion Research Center and the Pew Organization conclude that spiritually committed people are twice as likely to report being very happy than the least religiously committed people. An analysis of over 200 social studies contends that high religiousness predicts a lower risk of depression and drug abuse and more reports of satisfaction with life and a sense of well being.

Explanations of happiness in mystical traditions are related to full balance of so called inner energy lines. In a balanced state, two main lines (left & right, Ida & Pingala) form a third line, called Shushumna. Full activity of a third or central line is happiness. Left and right lines include all aspects of normal human life: sleep and awake, body and mind, physical and spiritual. To attain the balanced state of these two lines is a main task of life, a result of all activities and endeavours combined with full relaxation or tranquility.

Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings. Ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving in all forms. More mundane forms of happiness, such as acquiring wealth and maintaining good friendships, are also recognized as worthy goals for lay people. Buddhism also encourages the generation of loving kindness and compassion, and the desire for the happiness and welfare of all beings.

Zebras are African horses best known for their distinctive white and black stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. Unlike their closest relatives, horses and donkeys, zebras have never been truly domesticated.

They have been the subject of African folk tales which tell how they got their stripes. According to a Bushmen folk tale of Namibia, the zebra was once all white but got its black stripes after a fight with a baboon over a waterhole. After kicking the baboon so hard the zebra lost his balance and tripped over a fire, the fire sticks left scorch marks all over this white coat.

Some zoologists believe that the stripes act as a camouflage mechanism. This is accomplished in several ways. First, the vertical striping helps the zebra hide in grass. While seeming absurd at first glance, considering that grass is neither white nor black, it is supposed to be effective against the zebra’s main predator the lion, which is color blind. Theoretically, a zebra standing still in tall grass may not be noticed at all by a lion.

Additionally, since zebras are herd animals, the stripes may help to confuse predators. A number of zebras standing or moving close together may appear as one large animal, making it more difficult for a lion to pick out any single zebra to attack. A herd of zebras scattering to avoid a predator will also represent a confused mass of vertical stripes travelling in multiple directions making it difficult for the predator to track an individual visually as it separates from its herdmates.

More recent theories, supported by experiment, posit that the disruptive coloration is also an effective means of confusing the visual system of the tsetse fly. Alternative theories include that the stripes coincide with fat patterning beneath the skin, serving as a thermoregulatory mechanism for the zebra, and that wounds sustained disrupt the striping pattern to clearly indicate the fitness of the animal to potential mates.

Zebras have excellent eyesight. It is believed that they can see in color. Like most ungulates the zebra has its eyes on the sides of its head, giving it a wide field of view. Zebras also have night vision, although not as advanced as that of most of their predators, but their hearing compensates.

They also have great hearing, and tend to have larger, rounder ears than horses. Like horses and other ungulates, zebra can turn their ears in almost any direction. In addition to eyesight and hearing, zebras have an acute sense of smell and taste.

Modern man has had great impact on the zebra population. Zebras were, and still are, hunted mainly for their skins. The Cape mountain zebra was hunted to near extinction with less than 100 individuals by the 1930s. However the population has increased to about 700 due to conservation efforts. Both Mountain zebra subspecies are currently protected in national parks but are still endangered.