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mood | : | ![]() | impressed |
music | : | Trisha Yearwood - Away in a Manger |
omphaloskepsis \ahm-fuh-loh-SKEP-sis\ noun
: contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation;
: indisposition to motion, exertion, or change
Sample Usage:
"Mystics of the Middle Ages practiced omphaloskepsis, believing that concentrating on a single focal point such as the navel would help them experience divine light and glory."
Did You Know?
Greek mythology holds that Zeus released two eagles, one from the east and one from the west, and made them fly toward each other. They met at Delphi, and the spot was marked with a stone in the temple of the oracle there, a stone they named "omphalos," Greek for "navel" (it supposedly marked the center of the world). Mystics have been practicing omphaloskepsis for centuries, but it wasn't until the early 1920s that English speakers combined "omphalos" with another Greek term, "skepsis" (which means "examination," not "skepticism"), to create a word for studying one's own middle and thinking deeply.
It's not quite time for a new word yet... not that I really have a regular schedule for my words, but I generally do one mid-month and one at the end of the month. But I liked "omphaloskepsis" enough to post it right away.