Squid magic
Published: Thu, 12/06/12
Long before J K Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books there was a
series of novels by Ursula McGuinn about young wizards on a fantasy
world called Earthsea. As I recall they are rather better written
than Rowling's efforts and they certainly had their following
if not on the scale of Harry Potter mania. I remember one
particular scene where a young magican needed light to explore a
cave or some similar situation and he was able to provide
illumination from his staff or may be his hand by use of magic. I
remember thinking this was rather a neat trick and it is something
I can only accomplish with the use of a flashlight. Then I read
recently about a species of squid which carries a luminescent
bacteria on its skin and has developed the ability to focus the
light generated from its abdomen. You can read more about the Bob
Tailed Squid here and see a picture, hansom little fellow isn't
he? http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/2004/01/09/squid.php
Does this have anything to do with Stav? Not directly, but it is
another example of how useful bacteria can be and shows that
something which seems to belong in a fantasy novel is actually an
everyday reality, if you happen to be a certain species of 2 inch
long Hawaiian sea creature. But it does indicate there are more
possibilities in life than we often imagine and maybe there are
things we can achieve if we just give ourselves the opportunity to
learn how to do them and then practice. Okay, I can't teach
you how to shine a beam of light out of your tummy but there are a
lot of other good things that you can learn through Stav,
particularly in expanding your own potential and understanding the
world we live in. So the new programme for 2013 is taking shape
here http://www.iceandfire.org.uk/forthcoming.html and don't of
course forget the 2013 Stav Camp in September.