WHEN WE WERE OF KINGS AND GENIUSES

Time has done to masonry what it does to all mysteries.  Mystery becomes common place.  In 1593  Carolus Clusius introduced tulips  to Holland from Turkey.  He planted a small garden to research possible medicinal benefits.  Neighbours, seeing the colourful blossoms, broke into the yard to steal the unusual attractive flowers to sell, and the rest as they say, is history.    Over then next 7 decades the supply/demand cycle saw overvaluation.  A single bulb went for 2500 florins, about $2000 Cn. and rare strains for double that amount.  They became so valuable it was thought risky to plant them. Unplanted bulbs were put on display.   As all speculation comes to an end, so too did the Bulb Market in 1637 when the market bubble popped.  Traders were making 60,000 florins a month, until one day a trader failed to show up to pay for bulbs he had purchased.   This was the mirror that brought the Dutch to realize a reality they had ignored.   Today, we buy them in little bags for a few dollars.  Few buyers ever aware they are buying something once valued beyond reason.

Time.  We don't really know what it is, but today we think it has something to do with time/space.  Light particles, waves, curves, gravity and us.   The sun does rise in the morning. Spinning at 53,000 km, it takes the Earth an entire day to cycle into and away from the protons and neutrons- life giving.  Some of us may stand in awe of the magnificence of our Universe and the fragile processes that produced life on this planet.  Science still plunges into the mystery.  Each answer leads to another question, another answer, another mystery.  But we don't call it superstition.  Superstition is phenomena that occur when we are governed by perception.