CAPITAL VIRTUE 7 : HUMILITY “ALLEGORY OF THE BIG BLACK SWAN”
#Humility@FA

The swan is often seen as a symbol of various qualities, including beauty, grace, purity, and transformation. In some cultures, the swan is also associated with humility or self-effacement, as it is a bird that appears to move through the water with a serene and unassuming presence.

All swans are white ?
Until the 17th century, in Europe people believed that all swans were white. This belief was based on the observation that all the swans that had been seen in Europe, Asia, and Africa were white.
Until a black swan was seen.
In 1697, Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh (indeed, one of my Flemish predecessors) discovered black swans in Western Australia. This discovery was a shock to Europeans, who had never seen a black swan before.

The black swan became a symbol of the unexpected, the rare, and the unpredictable.
The term "black swan" was popularized by philosopher and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book "The Black Swan: The
Impact of the Highly Improbable". In the book, Taleb argues that black swan events are rare, unpredictable, and have a significant impact on the world. Examples of black swan events include the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Enter Cygnus.
Cygnus: Also in Greek mythology, the constellation Cygnus (or "swan") is often seen as a symbol of humility. And the star constellation Cygnus is named after the swan. Although the stars in Cygnus from a nice pattern, almost like 2-dimensional, the stars in the constellation are very far and at various distances from earth, on average at a distance of about 1,500 light- years from Earth.

So how big is the Swan in the constellation Cygnus ?
The stars in the Cygnus constellation are at various distances from us, so their apparent separation in the sky can be deceiving. However, the widest pair of stars in the Cygnus constellation that are physically close to each other are Albireo A and B, which appear as a beautiful double star when viewed through a telescope.
The exact distance between Albireo A and B is not precisely known, but the distance between them is about 900 billion kilometers.

One of the tallest human built structures on earth is currently the Burj Khalifa, "Pride of our human evolution". With a height of 828 meters, we can deduct that the distance between Albireo A and B is about 1.09 trillion times the height of Burj Khalifa….
Enter humility again …. Is our "Big Swan" in Cygnus not forcing us to a bit more humility ?
And extrapolating to the origin of our universe : the Big Bang. Is the Bang itself not the biggest “Black Swan” ? The most improbable event ?

Time for more reflection ….
The composition on the left is inspired by the "Urania Mirror Cards", also known as the Mirror of the Future, are a deck of divination cards that were created in the early 20th century. They are used by astronomers and astrologists, in different ways …
The cards are not actually mirrors, but they are called mirrors because astrologist use them to reflect the innermost thoughts and feelings of the person using them, so as a tool for self-reflection and introspection.

Is our Big Black Swan not a good mirror for humility and self-reflection ?

With the words of Pieter Breughel de Oude :
Old Dutch : Mensche wilt ghy zijn verheven / Soo moet ghy u selven vernederen / Latin : HOMO SI VIS EXALTARI / TE IPSVM DEBES HVMILIARE
In English, this translates as: Man if you want to be exalted / You must humble yourself

For more information : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BZbodklWa7Q_k1cwv1Efjs9c-aRD_88r/view?usp=drive_link