This week’s theme is inspired by a beautiful photograph Vlad posted over at Wind Against Current. Click the link to see his photo, and when you pick your jaw up off the floor, come on back over here and join in this week’s challenge.
Mystical is an evocative term with many nuances. I chose this word because it can be interpreted in so many ways. It can mean spiritually symbolic, otherworldly, ethereal or mysterious. I also love how this word sounds when you speak it aloud, and I can’t help but associate it with mists that conceal the everyday, cloaking the mundane in a veil of mystery. The verb ‘to mystify’; to make mysterious or obscure, is derived from the words mystic and mystery. Ooh, the possibilities are endless.
Last weekend I visited Washington State’s Olympic Penninsula and got a few photos that capture the essence of what mystical and otherworldly mean to me. I hope you like them.
Foggy day in the Hall of Mosses
In the depths of the Hoh rain forest
Freezing fog over Lake Crescent
So what does the word mystical conjure up for you? If you’d like to join in this week’s travel theme (everyone is welcome to join in), here’s what to do:
- Create your own post and title it Travel Theme: Mystical
- Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
- Get your post in by next Thursday, as the new travel theme comes out on Friday
- Don’t forget to subscribe to keep up to date on the latest weekly travel themes
Mystify me.
xxx
Ailsa
Where's my backpack? 
What a wonderful forest and beautiful pictures, truly Mystical! I have much the same visions when I think of the word – “Mystical”. As a tree lover I must have trees and forests, I grew up with them. Then there has to be water too – I have the greatest respect for deep waters…what’s down there…in the deep blue? But, this time I chose another water mystery…
http://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/weekly-travel-theme-mystical/
Those shots of the green mossy forest are wonderful, but wow, that last photo – you have truly mystified me, lagottocattleya, I have to know what it is and where it is! Great capture.
I love the Hoh Rain Forest! (And it doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the only temperate rain forests on the whole planet.) What I remember most about it is that even the air looks green. Amazingly beautiful.
You’re so right, even the air looks green, and smells green. And very, very wet. 🙂
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i’m very excited about this challenge! here’s my contribution http://theeclecticeccentricshopaholic.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
lovely mystical photos btw ^^
Thanks kz, beautiful images of the Philippines, your photos make me long to visit. And I love that poem and how it ends, thrilled-to-my-toes little me. I’ve got a huge grin on my face now! xxx
haha thanks 🙂 glad it made you smile
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Great photos, Ailsa, as always!!
And thanks so very much for thinking of my photo, and sending your armies of readers my way 🙂 I really appreciate it! It means, of course, that I can’t use that, my most Mystical photo—and I don’t have too many Mystical photos—in response to your challenge 😉
But here’s something, perhaps: http://windagainstcurrent.com/2012/11/16/travel-theme-mystical/
Aha, I never thought of that, Vlad, and yet you rose to the challenge and pulled out some more stunning photos. I remember reading about that day you took those photos, they really are quite mystical – that second one in particular, with just the merest suggestion of a hidden city somewhere on the horizon. xxx Ailsa
That moss covered tree is mesmerizing Ailsa! Amazing shot and setting!
Thanks Madhu, I could have spent hours just wandering through that mossy forest, but it was raining so hard I was worried my camera would give up the ghost. 🙂
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I’ve got an old photo from Sweden, Järna, already published… Imaging a troll coming from the mountains… http://mariadesuede.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/le-soleil-se-couche/
Ooh, trolls, how wonderful. 🙂 I love the forest at night too, Maria, and you’re right, the sense of calm is deceptive, with all those little animals scurrying around living their lives by the light of the moon. Lovely interpretation. xxx
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I love this theme. Great photos. Here is my entry: http://aniaarcher.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/travel-theme-mystical/
Lovely, Ania, even the name sounds mystical. I love the delicate pink of the first shot! 🙂
it really fits the Title.. I was Mystify by it.:) great shot
Thanks goonblade!
Here’s my contribution: http://ricardovieirafotos.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Beautiful shots, Ricardo!
Thank you for you comment 🙂
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You’ve inspired me to write my own Mystical post, Ailsa, thanks so much! Still gazing at the first photo by the way 😉
http://drieskewrites.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Lovely, Marion, another water-based entry, that first shot is really captivating!
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Here you go http://sasieology.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/ 🙂
Lovely shots, Sas, and interesting info about earthquakes in Kefalonia, I hadn’t heard about the frequency of them before.
hi Ailsa, i missed your challenge last week, but i am happy to note that i am back for this week’s theme. i hope this mystifies you: http://alwaysbobswife.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Definitely mystical, alwaysbobswife, and what a fascinating memorial too.
Stunning photos!
Thanks leamuse 🙂
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Lovely theme this week Ailsa. http://ayearinmyshoes.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Great shot, Livvy – I actually saw two animals there 🙂
nice theme for this week. 🙂
This is my entry for this week’s theme: mystical
hope you like it!
Lovely series, sheladyanne, a part of the Philippines I don’t know that much about, those rock formations look wonderful.
Great capture.Enchanted indeed.
Lovely photo, pablo, so much to look at, the nets and the anchor and that fisherman silhouetted so beautifully!
Thanks!
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Great topic! I posted several photos of Mystical New Zealand which always shows up in my photos, books, and my heart! http://lonnalisawilliams.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/mystical-new-zealand/
That shot of Doubtful Sound is really lovely, Lonna. xxx
Great pictures, everyone! Here’s my contribution: https://kathrinaha.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Wonderful photo, Kathrinaha, Mount Suilven is perfect for the mystical theme 🙂
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Here’s my take:
Really cool, mostlymonochrome, the infra-red really makes for a fascinating photo. I love the dramatic dark branches of the third tree from the right.
Hi A! Very interesting theme!
Here my entry…
Nice one, badflea – also quite spooky!
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A very difficult theme Ailsa! http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Ah, definitely mystical, Gilly, and I love the boxing hares! 🙂
Love the theme, and your beautiful photos, Ailsa. Vlad’s pic was indeed awesome. 🙂
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Wonderful Ailsa! Hope you are a Van Morrison fan…couldn’t get this song out of my head so I had to include it to listen to while you read my post! Enjoy!
Ooh, Nicole, I am a huge Van Morrison fan, love that you included that song in your post, it’s one of my favourites! Stunning photos of Iceland, each and every one, but that very first photo is breathtaking – you really captured the scale and grandeur of this most mystical country. I love it. Still listing to Van! 🙂
Wonderful! I actually lucked out and got to hear him in Dublin at a small venue, perhaps 1000 people. It was UNBELIEVABLE!!! Thanks so much for your wonderful travel challenges! You’ve got quite the following now! Awesome work! 🙂
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Loved this one! See my creative response combined with the Weekly Challenge: Green pingback’d at Travels and Trifles.
Wow, Tina, that top shot is really beautiful, what a stunning sight – even the green screens cannot mar its beauty. xxx
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Here’s my ones 🙂
http://kattermonran.com/2012/11/17/travel-theme-mystical/
Lovely series, Alastair, Mystic 5 is my favourite with the light on the horizon and those silhouetted structures standing out in sharp relief. xxx
Thanks Ailsa 🙂
Mystical in New York City…
Lovely, Shaanthz, those colours peeping through the ice are wonderful!
Thanks Ailsa – I was just amazed at how a block of ice was transformed into something so amazing and mystical (in this case!).
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Mystical in Morocco
http://quotidianhudsonriver.com/2012/11/17/11-17-12-travel-theme-mystical-take-1/
Very intriguing, Robert – were these people you encountered in Morocco or just strangers?
By now in 2012, they are strangers. Back then? Katherine and me.
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Thank you for this one! I have been waiting to post this photo somewhere for years!! 🙂
Hurray, so glad this gave you the chance to post it, Barbara – I love it, the merest suggestion of a bridge hiding behind the spray, so lovely!
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Hi Ailsa, I love your theme this week. Evocative of magic and beauty and enchantment. I’m a little late tho’ to your Mystical party – here are my photographs from the enchanting Yosemite and Lake Tahoe:
http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/photo-journal-travel-theme-mystical/
Oh Myra, I do so enjoy your posts – Yosemite looks incredible, I really have to visit it sometime soon – and I adore the first shot, I agree, it’s totally Tim Burton! I’ve never read ‘The Night Circus’ but your excerpt from it makes me want to rush out and buy it right now! I’m excited to read it.
That first shot is stunning, and yes, mystical. Just beautiful, and peaceful – can smell the damp woods.
Here’s my interpretation – they come on silent feet … http://lynneayersbeyondthebrush.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/they-come-on-silent-feet/
Ooh Lynne, this is glorious, the light is wonderful. Surely elves and faeries have set up home there. 🙂