Sleeping in the Forest

The full moon and lunar eclipse again wreaked havoc with my sleep – I woke up several times seemingly for no reason, but I looked out the window and said “goodnight, moon“, as if I were in Margaret Wise Brown’s classic book where the bunny says goodnight to various objects and creatures before drifting off to sleep. 

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better. –Mary Oliver

Cinderella by Frances Brundage

Enchanted Places

“There is a garden in every childhood,
an enchanted place,
where colors are brighter,
the air is softer,
and the morning more fragrant than ever again.”

Quote by Elizabeth Lawrence
Art by Jessie Willcox Smith (1863 – 1935)
Curated from Ravenous Butterflies

The Star Fairy

Stars are dropping thick as stones into the twiggy
Picket of trees whose silhouette is darker
Than the dark of the sky because it is quite starless.
The woods are a well. The stars drop silently.

Stars Over the Dordogne – Sylvia Plath

The Star Fairy, (2012) Catrin Welz-Stein

Enchanted

In my dreams…

Those Enchanted places
Where the past shall always be
Where the past shall linger
Quietly, in the present.

Poem by Athey Thompson
Art by Lucy Campbell

Come Home

Yesterday’s angst is over; problems solved — today is Friday the 13th, a day that was once considered unlucky until we learned that its negative image is rooted in the patriarchy suppressing the power of the female.

Rather than being afraid of Friday the 13th, especially since its ruled by Venus, we could instead manifest its magic as a day to connect to our beauty and nature.

For me, that’s always been the easiest route; my animal family is all about love. This IS home, along with art and a poem.

I shall
Gather up
All the lost souls
That wander this earth
All the ones that are alone
All the ones that are broken
All the ones that never really fitted in
I shall gather them all up
And together we shall find our home

“Gather up” A Poem written by Athey Thompson
Taken from A Little Book Of Poetry
Art by Elaine Bayley curated from Pinterest

Searching

“I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.” — Emily Dickinson

Curated from Pinterest. Unknown. Credit to the artist.

Feel the Full Moon Energy

Keep your eyes on the sky!

The moon begins her stately ride
Across the summer sky;
The happy wavelets lash the shore,
The tide is rising high. (From Evening Moon Paul Laurence Dunbar)

July’s full Buck Moon orbits closer to Earth than many of the other full moons this year, making it one of the four super moons of 2023.

This full moon in Capricorn is ruled by Chronos (Saturn) and Poseidon (Neptune), both powerful gods.

I’m not exactly sure what all that means, but in general, full moons can serve to illuminate our belief systems and define our overall intentions to live in joy and integrity.

Don’t forget to set out a jar of water along with your crystals to be cleansed and charged by the moon’s powerful energy.

(Art curated from Pinterest)

Miles To Go…

From the deepest, darkest part of the ocean to where I feel more at home, following a path on terra firma…

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening — Robert Frost
Artist Micell A. via Pinterest

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
–W.B. Yeats

Curated from and art credit to Elaine Bayley Illustrations