I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. --RL Stevenson
This haunting photo of the ocean is a total mystery. I don’t remember where or when I snapped it, but it’s intense.
I can certainly relate. I’m working on the shadowy crevices between total darkness and the love and positivity that shines a light into the murky gloom.
Embrace and make peace with our shadow with a lot of love and self compassion.
The mournful song of my little dove reminded me of a poem by Becky Hemsley.
She walked along the pathway
And she hadn’t walked for long
When she met a little bird
Who sang a melancholy song
She listened for a moment
To his sad, enchanting sound
And she asked him why he sang his song
When no-one was around
“I sing to tell the forest
That the day has just begun
And I join the morning chorus
As we’re welcoming the sun
I sing so all the other birds
Will know they’re not alone
And I hum to all the trees
To help their leaves and branches grow
I sing for all the creatures
As they go about their day
And I whistle warnings to the sky
That clouds are on their way”
But why,” she asked him gently
“Is your song so bittersweet?
Why does it sound like longing
And like yearning when you tweet?”
“I sing to feel less lonely,”
Said the tiny, little bird
“And I tweet into the quiet
Just so I can feel heard
For when the sun is busy,
When the other birds have flown,
When the trees are climbing skyward
Then I’m left here on my own
And I sing to ask the questions
That are tearing through my mind
But I don’t know what I fear the most
Silence… or the reply”
Becky Hemsley
Awakened by the gentle shaking of a not-too-big earthquake at 1:05 a.m., I’m continually reminded about the depth of energies we can’t control — like earthquakes, hurricanes, solar storms, and planetary influences.
Knowledge is power, and while I can gather candles for an impending loss of electricity, I also can anticipate somehow being affected by the potency of August’s second full blue moon so it won’t be a complete surprise.
“How many ways can you describe the sky and the moon?” —Toni Morrison
Conjure up the magic
And there it shall be
A sky full of wild dreams
For all to see
A little poem by Athey Thompson
The Pisces Full Moon on August 30, 2023, is not just a celestial phenomenon but a conduit for spiritual growth. By engaging with its energies, we not only enhance our spiritual pursuits but also align more harmoniously with the cosmos.
When we witness the second Full Moon in a single calendar month, it’s referred to as a “Blue Moon.” Such celestial events are not only spellbinding but are also as rare as they sound, gracing our skies merely once every two and a half years or so.
The appearance of a Blue Moon isn’t just about its rarity; it’s an astrological nod for us to sit up and take notice.
What does having two Full Moons within thirty days signify? It pulsates with a potent energy of release, overcoming of past traumas or shedding psychic burdens that weren’t our responsibility to bear in the first place.
During this Pisces Blue Moon, the dance of the planets is equally noteworthy. Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto will all be in their retrograde phases.
With the nurturing and gentle vibrations of the Pisces Full Moon, the exploration becomes even more profound. This period will be marked by heightened intuition, dreamscapes revealing more than they typically do, and clearer cosmic signs guiding our way.
And in these silent, magical moments, don’t be surprised if you feel the comforting presence of departed loved ones or ethereal guardians guiding and watching over you. spiritualify.org
Hang on!!!
Heaving mountain in the sea,
Song of the Whale — Kit Wright
Whale, I heard you
Grieving.
Great whale crying for your life,
Crying for your kind…
The last surviving orca of the infamous Penn Cove captures of 1970 is dead.
Lolita is dead. In my opinion, she was murdered; a long, slow, painful death.
When will humans stop abusing other living creatures for MONEY?
The blood is on your hands, Miami Seaquarium.
Earlier this year, the Seaquarium announced plans to return Lolita back to the the waters of the Pacific where she could spend her final days. The decision came after years of pressure from animal rights groups to allow the aging orca to spend her final days swimming freely in her natural habitat.
But months later, Lolita remained at the aquarium. The Dolphin Company, which owns
the Seaquarium, said that the orca would be relocated sometime between October 2024 and April 2025. (NPR)
I can’t even verbalize how angry I am at the humans who did this to Lolita. She was so close to finally being reunited with her family and experiencing freedom.
What makes me even more outraged are the ignorant comments on the aquarium’s website, thanking them for “loving” this orca, and how beautiful it was to see her. IT WAS NOT BEAUTIFUL. It was a total and complete travesty. So very wrong.
Lolita (also known as Tokitae), the most famous orca in captivity, and the subject of a decades-long, global movement to retire her to a seaside sanctuary, has died at Miami Seaquarium. While reports of her deteriorating health have peppered the media over the last several months, this is no easy news to accept.
The Seaquarium stated that during the past two days, Lolita “…started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort.” The aquarium went on to say that while her medical team began treating her condition, “…she passed away Friday afternoon from what is believed to be a renal condition.”
“There is something inherently obscene about a magnificent creature such as Lolita dying in a concrete STADIUM. This is going to continue until people stop buying tickets. There is no other way.” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project
On August 8, 1970 at approximately four years old, Lolita was captured from the waters of Penn Cove, in the state of Washington. It was a violent capture, where five whales drowned, including four babies. This young member of the L pod of the Southern Resident killer whales was sold to Miami Seaquarium, a marine park located on Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida for $20,000 and in the following month, was shipped across the country to her new home.
Her “home” would be a concrete tank, known as the “Whale Bowl”. Another orca at the facility, Hugo, would eventually be moved into the tank alongside Lolita, where they performed their daily routines. For ten years, the two orcas shared the Seaquarium’s spotlight. Despite mating, no offspring was produced.
(Curated from dolphinproject.com)
While Lolita may never experience the freedom she deserved, her legacy will continue to inspire us to push for a world where animals are treated with compassion and respect. Her story will forever remind us of the urgent need to protect our oceans and the magnificent creatures that call them home.https://www.savelolita.org/
There isn’t one single word to describe the unspeakable wrongs that were done to Lolita for fifty years, but I can think of a few…repugnant, vile, abusive.
Lolita should be swimming with her family in Puget Sound. On behalf of the human race, I’m so very sorry.
And, one day
We shall look back and see
It was always those little moments
That mattered the most
Those little fleeting moments
Of innocence
Of happiness
Of laughter and dance.
A little poem written by Athey Thompson
I captured the final glimpse of the sunset with my son still out there surfing. Can life get any better? I think not. #grateful
And, one day
We shall look back and see
It was always those little moments
That mattered the most
(A little poem written by Athey Thompson)
This is such a great word!
Nemophilist: One who is fond of forest or forest scenery; a haunter of the woods.
Oh yes, I’d love to haunt some woods right about now, with the stars above and the full moon to guide a late night hike…
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.
George Gordon Byron
(George Gordon was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the greatest of English poets. Wiki)
Be the wild one, my friends.
And, she
Be the wild one
That wanders the woods
Wanting for silence
But for, the song of the birds
Photo credit to Enchanted Seashells
A little poem by Athey Thompson
Taken from A Little Pocket Book of Poems by Athey Thompson
A few years ago UC Berkeley hosted an Eco-Poetics Conference. My son was invited to participate and while there he was honored to meet the poet, Robert Hass.
Hass served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award and shared the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for the collection Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005. In 2014 he was awarded the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets.
I love the way his mind works, it’s as simple as that.
From Hass: “This poem is called measure – I think it belongs to my learning as a young writer as to where I felt poems were coming from.”
Recurrences.
Coppery light hesitates
again in the small-leaved
Japanese plum. Summer
and sunset, the peace
of the writing desk
and the habitual peace
of writing, these things
form an order I only
belong to in the idleness
of attention. Last light
rims the blue mountain
and I almost glimpse
what I was born to,
not so much in the sunlight
or the plum tree
as in the pulse
that forms these lines.
FYI: Enjambment…From the French meaning “a striding over,” a poetic term for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next. An enjambed line typically lacks punctuation at its line break, so the reader is carried smoothly and swiftly—without interruption—to the next line of the poem.
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)
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 