To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.–Wendell Berry
This is a magical moment. It’s not simply a day on the calendar; it’s actually a very specific moment when the sun stands still, which is over almost as soon as it has begun, and winter begins. This physical changing of the seasons is a powerful time to manifest spiritual transformations.
I awoke at dawn to honor the spirit of the solstice — from the backyard, a pink sunrise in a blue sky. It rained all night and more is on the way, but for now it’s clear and sunny.
From the front yard, check out this glorious skyfire, a perfect celebration for the solstice, safer than a bonfire!
Let her be For her heart is filled with stardust Her soul is as wild and free As the wind
Have you ever witnessed something so exquisitely beautiful it almost made you cry?
I saw more dolphins yesterday! I watched three of them surf the big waves until they were too far away to see without binocs, and then I exhaled a big sigh. It was only then that I realized that I had been holding my breath.
How IwishIwishIwish I was a mermaid.
From Pinterest
A Little Poem written by Athey Thompson Art unknown from Pinterest
The full moon always disrupts my sleep. This full Beaver moon is giving me strange dreams, too, but I can only remember fragmented snippets, like my subconscious is rambling and formless; inchoate. This is my signal to spend time in nature, whether it’s the forest, the beach, or my garden.
And she stopped…and she heard what the trees said to her, And she sat there for hours not wanting to leave, For the forest said nothing, it just let her breathe. ~ Becky Hemsley
We finally had rain AND thunder! In the middle of a downpour, I absolutely forgot how to turn on my windshield wipers. I had to pull over and search for the owner’s manual to figure it out. That’s exactly how long it’s been since we had sky water! From last night to this morning, there was more than an inch of rain. More is on the way.
For some reason, it seems like a Cream kind of day, and I can’t exactly explain why I feel like this…
Ulysses, also known as Odysseus, is a character of Greek mythology. Homer wrote The Odyssey about Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for ten years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War.
When the original Angel Boy was young enough for nightly bedtime stories, we read The Odyssey to him (truth!) and think, in some small way, that it helped to encourage his professorial and writing talents.
Tales of Brave Ulysses
You thought the leaden winter Would bring you down forever But you rode upon a steamer To the violence of the sun
And the colours of the sea Bind your eyes with trembling mermaids And you touch the distant beaches With tales of brave Ulysses How his naked ears were tortured By the sirens sweetly singing For the sparkling waves are calling you To kiss their white laced lips
And you see a girl’s brown body Dancing through the turquoise And her footprints make you follow Where the sky loves the sea And when your fingers find her She drowns you in her body Carving deep blue ripples In the tissues of your mind
Tiny purple fishes Run laughing through your fingers And you want to take her with you To the hard land of the winter
Her name is Aphrodite And she rides a crimson shell And you know you cannot leave her For you touched the distant sands With tales of brave Ulysses How his naked ears were tortured By the sirens sweetly singing
Tiny purple fishes Run laughing through your fingers And you want to take her with you To the hard land of the winter
Background: The lyrics are inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, an account of the adventures undertaken by Ulysses. This can be seen in the song’s reference to “naked ears … tortured by the sirens sweetly singing,” an event from Homer’s epic. When interviewed on the episode of the VH1 show, Classic Albums, which featured Disraeli Gears, lyricist Martin Sharp explained that he had recently returned from Ibiza, which was the source of many of the images in the song (e.g. “tiny purple fishes run laughing through her fingers”) and the general feeling of having left an idyll to return to “the hard lands of the winter” https://www.lyricinterpretations.com/cream/tales-of-brave-ulysses
There’s a tree that I’ve been watching And I see it in my dreams For it calls to me and whispers As it dances in the breeze It whispers of a struggle From the roots up through the trunk And from there it tells of healing Grown of nurture, care and love Becky Hemsley 2021
I couldn’t find the special eclipse glasses we used in 2017 even though I know I saved them, so I used a colander and it made some really awesome crescents on a white background. The sun was only about 70% obscured here, no ring of fire, but super cool to safely experience.
Here’s a relevant poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 – 1919)
A SOLAR ECLIPSE
In that great journey of the stars through space About the mighty, all-directing Sun, The pallid, faithful Moon, has been the one Companion of the Earth. Her tender face, Pale with the swift, keen purpose of that race, Which at Time’s natal hour was first begun, Shines ever on her lover as they run And lights his orbit with her silvery smile.
Sometimes such passionate love doth in her rise, Down from her beaten path she softly slips, And with her mantle veils the Sun’s bold eyes, Then in the gloaming finds her lover’s lips. While far and near the men our world call wise See only that the Sun is in eclipse.
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
“Whence October is upon us, There shall be magic in the air, why it shall be everywhere. All ye leaves shall fall as Autumn does call. And as the faery folk are now gathering up and foraging, tonight I shall be leaving them a wee offering. Why, I shall leave them a few freshly hand picked Bramble berries & a wee tipple of Whiskey, Oh why how merry they shall surely be.” –Athey Thompson
First I’m hot and then I’m freezing. I confess that I’m having a hard time locating the magic in October. Not yet.
Because I wasn’t very smart last year and didn’t get a pneumonia vaccination, I ended up really sick with the most horrible case of double (bi-lateral) pneumonia, so bad that but for the fact that I’m incredibly stubborn, I would have been hospitalized,
THIS time I got the vaccination, reluctantly, because I always endure side effects for about thirty-six hours: headache, chills, fever. Most people only experience a sore arm but my immune system likes to give me a more ambitious taste of reality.
That’s why I’m now wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa, drinking ginger tea and binge-watching my new obsession, Blue Heelers, an Australian TV show from the 90s about the daily lives of Victorian police officers working at a police station in the fictional small town of Mount Thomas.
I think I’ve pretty much exhausted all the available British shows, so I had to search in a completely different hemisphere. Yes, it’s outdated with the gigantic brick-like cell phones, floppy disks, and scrunchies, but I’m learning a lot of new words like “mozzy” for mosquito, “esky” for Eskimo cooler, “slab” for six-pack of beer, “good on ya” and “you beauty“. I had to look up “it’s my shout, mate” to learn it means whoever said it will pay for the next round of drinks.
Previously my DIL and I loved A Place To Call Home, Rake, The Newsreader, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, and of course, Bluey.
I’m bracing for more vaccinations next week because it’s better to have a robustly active immune than the alternative. The first Covid vaccine sent me immediately to urgent care with an allergic reaction (read about that here) but the rest of them have been well tolerated except for the thirty-six hours of subsequent hell.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 