Wisdom of the Ages

''Dance, as though no one is watching,
Love, as though you've never been hurt before,
Sing, as though no one can hear you,
Work, as though you don't need the money,
Live, as though heaven is on earth. ''

~ Rumi

Happy Mother's Day

for all the Moms, Mothers-to-be, and Mothers who live on in our hearts...

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a blessed Beltane

Food for Thought

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.

~Arthur C. Clarke

Impossible!

Things are only impossible until they're not.
Jean-Luc Picard, 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'

may it be...

May the sun bring you new energy by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night,

May the rain wash away your worries,

May the breeze blow new strength into your being.

~Apache Blessing

I'm not a fan...

I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.

~Author Unknown

I don’t believe you can plan romance… romance is spontaneous.
Honestly, when I look back on all the romantic moments I’ve experienced NONE was planned, orchestrated, or involved roses, chocolate, or heinous poetry in a sappy card.

Food for thought

When the pearl is cast down in the mud it does not become dishonoured the more, nor if it is anointed with balsam oil will it become more precious. But it has its worth in the eyes of its owner at all times.

Philip the Gnostic, translated by R. Wilson
The Gospel of Philip

May you...

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

~ Kurt Vonnegut

A little green IOU...

Microlending.
Give it some thought

Wisdom of the Ages

You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape.

• If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40.
• If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

work it baaaaaaby

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.

~Duke Ellington

Arrogance is a kingdom without a crown

Nothing can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.
~Sidney J. Harris

Where would we be without such amusing diversions? While sanity may be soothing, this madness makes the day more delightful.

;)

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Carl Jung

Dammit.

Ring out the old; Ring in the New

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.
~Hamilton Wright Mabie

If we're fools whether we dance or not, then we might as well dance... so get out there and dance my lovelies!

Blessings of Light...

May all the joys of the season be yours...
and may there be peace and light in the coming year.

Whatever you're celebrating, may it be happy, healthy, and safe.

See you next year.

Food for Thought

We can't control our destiny, but we can control who we become.

Anne Frank

'Tis the season

art credit: Jackie Ocean

For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Food for Thought series

For all that has been, thanks; to all that will be, yes.

Dag Hammarskjold

How old are you?

Girls leave their schedule wide-open and wait for a guy to call and make plans.
Grown women make their own plans and nicely tell the guy to get in where he fits.

Girls want to control the man in their life.
Grown women know that if he's truly hers, he doesn't need controlling.

Girls get upset with you for not calling them.
Grown women are too busy to realize you hadn't.

Girls are afraid to be alone.
Grown women revel in it-using it as a time for personal growth.

Girls ignore the good guys.
Grown women ignore the bad guys.

Girls make you come home.
Grown women make you want to come home.

Girls worry about not being pretty and/or good enough for their man.
Grown women know that they are pretty and/or good enough for any man.

Girls try to monopolize all their man's time (i.e., don't want him hanging with his friends).
Grown women realize that a lil' bit of space makes the 'together time' even more special-and goes to kick it with her own friends.

Girls think a guy crying is weak.
Grown women offer their shoulder and a tissue.

Girls want to be spoiled and 'tell' their man so.
Grown women 'show' him and make him comfortable enough to reciprocate without fear of losing his 'manhood'.

Girls get hurt by one man and make all men pay for it.
Grown women know that was just one man.

Girls fall in love and chase aimlessly after the object of their affection, ignoring all 'signs'.
Grown women know that sometimes the one you love, don't always love you back-and move on, without bitterness.

....It's too bad for all the grown women out there that there are so many Boys dressed up as Men

use it...

When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

Audre Lorde

Affirmations

I love my strange beauty and amazing pain
I love my hungry soul and entertaining games
I love my flaws, my gaps, my fears
I love my mysterious, dazzling frontiers

I will never forsake, betray or deceive myself
I will always adore, forgive and believe in myself
I will never refuse, abandon or scorn myself
I will always amuse, delight and redeem myself

Beauty and truth and love will always find me
Chaos and wilderness will always sustain me
I'm the fire and water and earth and air that are forever fresh from eternity
I'm a perfect creation and everything alive is naturally in love with me

from Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, by Rob Brezsny
(found on mysticmirth's LJ)

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

Sometimes it does pay to open your email...

Food for Thought series

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
and things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art; to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Food for Thought series

Honor the tradition but expand the understanding. That's what religions must do right now if they hope to be helpful to humans in the years ahead.

Neale Donald Walsch
Tomorrow's God

Food for Thought series

You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can decide how you're going to live now.

Joan Baez

Choose well!
Namaste

Happy Father's Day

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
~Clarence Budington Kelland


HAPPY FATHER"S DAY
to all the Dads out there!

ashes to ashes...

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France

They say that nothing endures but change; that change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix…

But just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed, does it?

Vote thoughtfully.
Act responsibly.

Who knows what will rise from the ashes

...and there it is

I have a right to my anger, and I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be, that it's not nice to be, and that something's wrong with me because I get angry.

Maxine Waters, in Brian Lanker, I Dream a World, 1989

Food for thought...

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.

~Anaïs Nin

green streaks in my hair...

For you, even if you haven't got a drop of Irish blood in you...

Bless your little Irish heart-
and every other Irish part.
Wherever you go and whatever you do,
May the luck of the Irish be there with you.

May your heart be warm and happy
With the lilt of Irish laughter
Every day in every way
And forever and ever after.

Here's to good friends
Never above you
Never below you
Always beside you…

Always beside you.

We Can Make a Difference...

Dear friends,

I am one of over 50,000 people from 131 countries around the world demanding G8 leaders to take action to stop the climate crisis. This is urgent, and I thought you might be interested - please see the email below.
-----------------------------------------

Dear friend,

This Thursday, the environment ministers from the G8, the world's biggest contributors to climate change, will be meeting in Germany. The outcome of this meeting is crucial to world's response to global warming.

Avaaz.org has been invited to attend this meeting to present our climate change petition. A strong voice for action could help set the agenda for the G8. To help seize this opportunity, click below:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/climate_action_germany/tf.php

The G8 is a summit of world leaders from the "Group of 8" largest economies. Together, these countries account for 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions--the gasses that cause climate change. The full G8 summit is coming in June, but the agenda and outcome of this type of high-profile event is usually set far in advance--at meetings like the one this Thursday.

This year, the president of the G8 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, is in charge of the ministers meeting Thursday. And at 4 pm on March 15th, we have a personal meeting with Mr. Gabriel to present our petition for binding emissions targets to stop catastrophic climate change.

Merkel has indicated an interest in making climate change a top priority. With a significant global petition, we can make the case that the world is ready for aggressive leadership on climate change--and pave the way for truly historic commitments at the G8 summit this June.

It's a rare opportunity to have a global impact. Add your voice to the petition now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/climate_action_germany/tf.php

50,000 people from 131 countries have already demanded action. Our goal is to reach 100,000. Please sign the petition, forward this email to friends and family, and post the link on your blog--we only have a few days to make this statement count.

If we add our voices together, now, 2007 can become the year we took the first step to save the world.

With hope,

Ricken, David, Iain, Lee-Sean, Galit, Graziela, and the rest of the Avaaz.org team

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May it be.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.
One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

~Mary Jean Iron

The speed of thought...

Now is the winter of our discontent.
William Shakespeare

We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth's creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still.
Lewis Thomas

Where does discontent start? You are warm enough, but you shiver. You are fed, yet hunger gnaws you. You have been loved, but your yearning wanders in new fields. And to prod all these there's time, the Bastard Time.
John Steinbeck

Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.
Kenneth Grahame

...and the theme for today?

Happy Day of Love

The grimoire has been opened to a fresh page.
What story do we tell today?

Daily Affirmation...

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Namaste

- Attributed to Kalidasa

May it be.

Grant me the strength from day to day
To bear what burdens come my way.
Grant me throughout this bright New Year
More to endure and less to fear.
Help me live that I may be
From spite and petty malice free.

Let me not bitterly complain
When cherished hopes of mine prove vain,
Or spoil with deeds of hate and rage
Some fair tomorrow's spotless page.
Creator, as the days shall come and go
In courage let me stronger grow.

Creator, as the New Year dawns today
Help me to put my faults away.
Let me be big in little things;
Grant me the joy which friendship brings.
Keep me from selfishness and spite;
Let me be wise in what is right.

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye.
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.

Namaste

2007

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling;
He who makes one is a fool.
~F.M. Knowles

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence amidst all of creation that acknowledges the passage of another year, and yet we humans look on this nights’ coming darkness as a marker, a new start, another chance…

We will open a new book, and find that its pages are blank. We will put our words onto those pages. That book is called Our Life and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

To the family who have become friends,
and to the friends who have become family:

Beannachd Dia dhuit et Bonne Année

Translation: blessings of God be with you (Scots Gaelic) and Happy New Year (Quebecoise)
With inspirational nods to Hamilton Wright Mabi & Edith Lovejoy Pierce

T'was The Diet After Christmas...

T'was the day after Christmas, and all through the house
Not a damn thing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber),
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies, and sauces, and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the rum-balls, the bread and the cheese,
And the way that I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself up, in my husband's old shirt,
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt -

I said to myself, (as only I can),
"You can't spend the winter disguised as a man!"
So, away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, each cracker, and chip,

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
'til all the unwanted ounces have vanished!
I won't have a cookie, not even a lick...
I'll just have to chew on a celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie;
I'll munch on a carrot, and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore -
But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot...
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet!

T'was the Night Before Christmas

Live, Love, Laugh,

Smell the Sweet Spirits,

Dance with the Skies,

Hearken unto me my friend and

Hear my Prayer for your Happiness,

Your Safety, and Your Love this Holiday Season..

Blessed Be.

Happy Solstice!

Rejoice! The Light Returns!

Namaste

(photo credit: tenetsi, deviantart)

Food for Thought

How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares, were there a danger of their coming true?


~Logan Pearsall Smith

and a peace fell over the land...

I don't support the war, but a wholeheartedly support the men and women who serve in the military from all our countries...Let's bring them all home safely.

Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!

"For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light

Then he sighed and he said, "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand in the front of the line,

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December,"

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas Gram always remembers.

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of Nam,

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,

Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,

To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son.

"Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles,

SC, USN

30th Naval Construction Regiment

OIC, Logistics Cell One

Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Amen
Let there be Peace
Blessed Be.

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. A sunset, a mountain bathed in moonlight, the ocean in calm and in storm. We see these, love their beauty, hold the vision in our hearts. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
~ Helen Keller

Photo Credit: Suzanne Gabriel (photo.net)

Speak Friend and Enter...

I felt it shelter to speak to you. ~Emily Dickinson

Trouble is part of all our lives, and if you don't share your troubles, you don't give those people who love you enough chance to show you that love.
Some people come and go quickly in our lives.
Some come to stay, forever marking our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.

???

Did you ever stop to think whether we stop and think about the really important things?

We all get pensive at times. Most of us have considered the the future, the past, and the points in between.

but have we ever stopped to consider whether our ponderings ponder that which needs to be pondered?

are our minds so cluttered with the mundane that we fail to see?
and how would we know?

well?

Food For Thought Series

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

~Mahatma Gandhi

A wish for my American Friends....

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

~W.T. Purkiser

may your Thanksgiving be a blessed one...

Food For Thought series

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.

~José Narosky

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month







Lest We Forget...

those that served and died in the War to End All Wars, and all our wars since then,
and lest we forget those who continue to serve and die in all our current conflicts.

War does not determine who is right, it only determines who is left...

Blessed Be

Have I lost?

I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me,
I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul as it leads.
I would live in your love
Sarah Teasdale

A beautiful sentiment perhaps...Can one love this much without losing one's own being? and better yet, should we?

The dreamer in me says yes, to love this passionately is to feel the divine
The cynic in me says no, that to give up one's own dreams is to give over to an emptiness which can never be filled by another.

Perhaps, we should ask whether someone who loves us as much as we love them would ever ask us to give up our own dreams or sacrifice our soul to live in their love...

Catechism for a Witch's Child

When they ask to see your gods

your book of prayers

show them lines

drawn delicately with veins

on the underside of a bird's wing

tell them you believe

in giant sycamores mottled

and stark against a winter sky

and in nights so frozen

stars crack open spilling

streams of molten ice to earth

and tell them how you drink

a holy wine of honeysuckle

on a warm spring day

and of the softness

of your mother who never taught you

death was life's reward

but who believed in the earth

and the sun

and a million, million light years

of being

J.L. Stanley

A Blessed Samhain, A Happy Halloween
A Blessed All Souls Day ...
whatever you celebrate....may it be a safe and peaceful time.

Namaste


Artwork credit: October Pumpkins and Worms - Ilfed

What do you believe in?

Let it go...

Hey hey …

Too many doubts
Too much fear
Too much danger
When society constructs
Our human nature oh
Live by the rules
Live by the laws
Live by commandments
Notions preconceived
Can lead to utter madness

Let it go
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go
oh no
We are made
We are not born
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go
No no
We are made
We are not born

Learn to convert
Learn to assert
Learn to abandon Ideologies and
Disciplines at random
Lay down the laws
Lay down the rules
Lay down commandments
Lift the sanctions
That restricts this woman's madness

Uniformity
Conventionality
Is the fate of our existence?
Keep it safely at a distance
Nonconformity
Unconventionality
Is to dare to be?
Let your hair down
Can’t you see?

Let it go
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go
No no
We are made
We are not born
Let it go
Let it go
Let it free your body
Let it move your soul
Let it go
Woman is made
She is not born

Let it go, let it go …

(Luba)

Food For Thought series

Give without Remembering,
Take without Forgetting.

Photocredit: MoonLit Trees by Kevin Temple (photonet)

Perspective people perspective...

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change.

I can’t count the times I’ve either received this advice, or given it. But it’s true and although it can be a major challenge it can often make the world of difference to our well-being, our stress levels, and our quality of life.

Relax! None of us can control the world we live in. We can’t control the rain that falls on a day we’d counted on to be sunny. We can’t control the bus schedule, or the train schedule. We can’t control whether the internet servers are up and running or whether they’ve crashed (again).

The only thing we can control is our reactions to it. Our initial gut reactions (anger, frustration, self-pity) should be acknowledged, but not allowed to reign. Allow yourself a finite period of self-pity if you didn’t get the job you went for, but once that allotted time is up, get up shake yourself off and get back to work. Likewise with anger and frustration…acknowledge it then move on to a practical solution.

Namaste

Campaign for Real Beauty

Questions? Comments?
Takes alot of effort to try to live up to a marketing fantasy, doesn't it?

Death Be Not Proud

by John Donne

(1572-1631)

---

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Footsteps of Angels

When the hours of Day are numbered,
And the voices of the Night
Wake the better soul, that slumbered,
To a holy, calm delight;

Ere the evening lamps are lighted,
And, like phantoms grim and tall,
Shadows from the fitful firelight
Dance upon the parlor wall;

Then the forms of the departed
Enter at the open door;
The beloved, the true-hearted,
Come to visit me once more;

He, the young and strong, who cherished
Noble longings for the strife,
By the roadside fell and perished,
Weary with the march of life!

They, the holy ones and weakly,
Who the cross of suffering bore,
Folded their pale hands so meekly,
Spake with us on earth no more!

And with them the Being Beauteous,
Who unto my youth was given,
More than all things else to love me,
And is now a saint in heaven.

With a slow and noiseless footstep
Comes that messenger divine,
Takes the vacant chair beside me,
Lays her gentle hand in mine.

And she sits and gazes at me
With those deep and tender eyes,
Like the stars, so still and saint-like,
Looking downward from the skies.

Uttered not, yet comprehended,
Is the spirit's voiceless prayer,
Soft rebukes, in blessings ended,
Breathing from her lips of air.

Oh, though oft depressed and lonely,
All my fears are laid aside,
If I but remember only
Such as these have lived and died!
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

We don't have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here.
So let's move, let's forget our fears, let's live large, let's feel the wind, see the sunshine, embrace the gentle wash of rain, let's realize those dreams, ere the evening lamps are lighted and shadows dance on the parlour wall...

The Rose

Some say love it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razer
that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of wakingthat never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dyingthat never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong

Just remember in the winter
far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed
that with the sun's love
in the spring
becomes the rose
(Bette Midler)

The strongest walls guard the most timorous hearts.

The Inner Life of a Cell

Impressive...watch it.

Faith

Better trust all and be deceiv’d,
And weep that trust, and that deceiving,
Than doubt one heart that, if believ’d,
Had blessed one’s life with true believing.

Oh, in this mocking world, too fast
The doubting fiend o’ertakes our youth!
Better be cheated to the last
Than lose the blessèd hope of truth.

Frances Anne Kemble (1809–93)

what balm to heal the wounds of others doing?

how does one earn that fresh page or that clean brush?

Autumnal Equinox

Happy Alban Elfed, Autumn Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Cornucopia, Feast of Avilon, Festival of Dionysus, Harvest Home, Harvest Tide, Mabon, Night of the Hunter, Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Witch's Thanksgiving, first day of autumn, or whichever other seasonal name you prefer.

Neo-pagans use the name Mabon. Mabon was the son of Mordon, the Goddess of the earth (Welsh Mythology). Our family has always used the name Autumnal Equinox and used it as a time of Thanksgiving.

According to the Celtic cycle of the year, autumns’ equinox was the second harvest (first harvest festival = Lammas in August).

The Autumnal equinox signals the beginning of fall. It is the point where there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness (okay, technically only at the equator – humour me, okay?!). The daylight hours are decreasing and will continue to decrease until the Winter Solstice (in December), the shortest day of the year and the start of winter.

Here the leaves are beginning to turn and the nights are crisp (snuggle weather! as opposed to the it's "too f*ing hot" weather...)

Things I am thankful for: My family, my friends (those I know in real life and those I have yet to meet), my health and the health of those dear to me…

Today may we appreciate this food and remember those who are hungry.
May we appreciate our family and friends and remember those who are alone.
May we appreciate our health and remember those who are sick.
May we appreciate the freedoms we have and remember those who suffer injustice and tyranny.

To the friends who have become family
and the family who have become friends-

Peace on earth.

Namaste

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before. (M. Burgess, Northern Exposure)

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.
For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. (E. Teale)

Take advantage of the crisp air and the longer nights
Use this time as you see fit...
Look ahead, we will be there

Namaste

I'm going to try...

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
Bessie Stanley

not only am I going to try to succeed in this way...but I'm going to grab my eyepatch, swab the deck, take many a swig of grog, keelhaul landlubbers, and keep to the code!

Yarrrrr ya scurvy dogs ...'tis International Talk like a Pirate Day...shiver me timbers! It's the plank for you!

Avast and Ahoy!

It was a day like any other day.

My hometown.

BITCHOLOGY

BITCHOLOGY

When I stand up for myself and my beliefs, they call me a bitch.

When I stand up for those I love, they call me a bitch.

When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts or do things my own way, they call me a bitch.

Being a bitch means I won't compromise what's in my heart.
It means I live my life MY way.
It means I won't allow anyone to step on me.
When I refuse to tolerate injustice and speak against it, I am defined as a bitch.
The same thing happens when I take time for myself instead of being everyone's maid, or when I act a little selfish.
It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won't become anyone else's idea of what they think I "should" be.
I am outspoken, opinionated and determined.
I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!
So try to stomp on me, try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me.
You won't succeed.

And if that makes me a bitch , so be it.
I embrace the title and am proud to bear it.

B - Babe
I - In
T - Total
C - Control of
H - Herself

B = Beautiful
I = Intelligent
T = Talented
C = Charming
H = Hell of a Woman

B = Beautiful
I = Individual
T = That
C = Can
H = Handle anything

Come By the Hills

Come by the hills to the land
where fancy is free.
And stand where the peaks meet the sky
and the rocks reach the sea.
Where the rivers run clear and the bracken
is gold in the sun.
And cares of tomorrow must wait
till this day is done.

Come by the hills to the land
where life is a song
And sing while the birds fill the air
with their joy all day long.
Where the trees sway in time, and even
the wind sings in tune.
And cares of tomorrow must wait
till this day is done.

Come by the hills to the land
where legend remains
Where stories of old stir the heart
and may yet come again.
Where the past has been lost and the future
is still to be won.
And cares of tomorrow must wait
till this day is done.

Come by the hills to the land
where fancy is free.
And stand where the peaks meet the sky
and the rocks reach the sea.
Where the rivers run clear and the bracken
is gold in the sun.
And cares of tomorrow must wait
till this day is done.
And cares of tomorrow must wait

till this day is done.

Traditional Gaelic

...and those cares, they must wait their turn, for todays' sun is not yet set.

Namaste

Dear Blogger,

You "up-graded" my account to a Beta-Blogger.
Now I can't comment on anyone's blog because I'm beta and they're not.
This is not an improvement...
Thanks ever so much. <= was the sarcasm clear enough?? huh? was it?

signed,
a disgruntled blogger

the moors are calling...

Autumn is fast approaching...I love this time of year. I love absolutely everything about it.

Too many people think of this time of year in melancholy terms, the leaves dying, and everything ending, not me I see it as a beginning...I become alive, awake.
They used to tell me that this is because the veil is thin at this time of year...I don't know what it is, but I know I love it.

...the changing colours, the blustery winds, the blowing leaves, the first frost, and the smells. Nothing, nothing in this world smells as good as the autumn; a Vermont farm stand, the fragrant mix of apples, cider, pine trees, and crisp clear mountain air), frost, brisk mornings, and snow in the mountains - yes they all have a smell.
throw in a leaf burning fire, and the thrill of biting into a crisp sour Northern Spy or Spartan, and it's pure heaven.

There is something about the crisp autumn air, bonfires, fireplaces, and the comforting feeling of pulling on a snugly sweatshirt, or snuggling down into warm blankets that is exciting to me.

I love the mists that swirl in around now and will find almost any excuse to go out and walk in them - the thicker the better! I love losing my self in the stillness and mystery the mist brings with it...and let's face it pumpkins are just so pretty.

Traditionally, Samhain was the Celtic new year and to me this time of year really does signify the new year; not January 1.
the big changes happen now...we make all sorts of new years's resolutions in January and but nothing really changes from Dec 31 to the morning after...with the possible exception of the hang over.

It's autumn that signals change, new schools, new school years, university kids leaving home for the first time, new adventures, new harvests, new plans, life gears back up and yet quiets down...

There is a sense of excitement and anticipation, and it comes something other than visiting stationary stores and fondling new school supplies.

There is a growing quiet in the woods.

Alys (from MySpace, aka REEPT from Blather) said that she heard the geese calling early one morning and hearing that call made her want to go home...a feeling that she couldn't pinpoint or explain anymore than that.

I understand completely, although I doubt I can describe it any better.

In the autumn, When I'm standing alone in the woods, or in the mountains, or anywhere and I get a whiff of something in the air, a hint of an indescribable scent that triggers a feeling and need to be somewhere, to be home. I hear an inaudible voice summoning me to something somewhere and I sense an impulsive need to follow that call to meet whatever is beckoning.

Who knows, maybe someday I will...

Win, Lose, or Draw

A handful of patience is worth its weight in gold, but as the Latin Proverb says: If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.

The trick is to know when to start rowing; too soon and you do not leave the Universe room to play its hand, too late and you lose your chance.

Namaste

Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses.

Perhaps we would accomplish more if we listened.

I am sorry!

Miracles: You do not have to look for them. They are there, 24-7, beaming like radio waves all around you. Put up the antenna, turn up the volume - snap... crackle... this just in, every person you talk to is a chance to change the world
Hugh Elliot

'tis true my lovelies...turn on the news tonight and listen; all that is a result of what each and every one of us chose to do, or chose not to do.

They say that the beat of a butterfly wing can cause a ripple effect large enough to cause a tsunami...think what we can accomplish if we'd only try.
Stop whining, stop expecting others to fix things, stop expecting others to be as smart, or smarter than you...
You think the world is stupid, and it is, but remember this my love, you are part of this same world (if only a small part); you are the wings of a butterfly....

Just One

a thought...gleened from a Mirthful Mystic via The Quotations Page

If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day.
John A. Wheeler

Today was 'much of a day'

Mama, we're all crazy now...

‘Abused patience turns to fury’

J'ai un nerf qui me reste et tu saute là-dessus; And to quote The Hulk “You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.”

I have a right to this anger.
I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be angry, that it's not nice to be angry, and that something's wrong with me because I get angry.

But it’s all lost in the wind, yes?

I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!
~Dr. Seuss

As the Yiddish Proverb says: I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.


I suppose we must all learn to embrace and endure our pain; burning it as fuel for the journey, but not allowing it to make us bitter.

Beannachd Dia dhuit

It's a small comfort...

Don't stand beside my grave and weep,
For I'm not there, I do not sleep,
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond's glint on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
of quiet birds in circle flight,
I am soft stars that shine at night,
Don't stand beside my grave and cry,
I am not there. I did not die.

Poem: Mary E. Frye
Photo credit: Michael Haydon (photo.net)


You are free. May you be blessed.

We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance. (Marcel Proust)

Give those you love an extra hug and don't hesitate to tell them how much you love them. Death often comes suddenly and we may never get another chance.

The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive - perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine. (Mignon McLaughlin, 1960)

After the tears we shall remember that we're alive.

A bountiful Lammas to all

John Barleycorn

There was three kings into the east,

Three kings both great and high,

And they hae sworn a solemn oath

John Barleycorn should die.

They took a plough and plough'd him down,

Put clods upon his head,

And they hae sworn a solemn oath

John Barleycorn was dead.

But the cheerful Spring came kindly on,

And show'rs began to fall;

John Barleycorn got up again,

And sore surpris'd them all.

The sultry suns of Summer came,

And he grew thick and strong,

His head weel arm'd wi' pointed spears,

That no one should him wrong.

The sober Autumn enter'd mild,

When he grew wan and pale;

His bending joints and drooping head

Show'd he began to fail.

His coulour sicken'd more and more,

He faded into age;

And then his enemies began

To show their deadly rage.

They've taen a weapon, long and sharp,

And cut him by the knee;

Then ty'd him fast upon a cart,

Like a rogue for forgerie.

They laid him down upon his back,

And cudgell'd him full sore;

They hung him up before the storm,

And turn'd him o'er and o'er.

They filled up a darksome pit

With water to the brim,

They heaved in John Barleycorn,

There let him sink or swim.

They laid him out upon the floor,

To work him farther woe,

And still, as signs of life appear'd,

They toss'd him to and fro.

They wasted, o'er a scorching flame,

The marrow of his bones;

But a Miller us'd him worst of all,

For he crush'd him between two stones.

And they hae taen his very heart's blood,

And drank it round and round;

And still the more and more they drank,

Their joy did more abound.

John Barleycorn was a hero bold,

Of noble enterprise,

For if you do but taste his blood,

'Twill make your courage rise.

'Twill make a man forget his woe;

'Twill heighten all his joy:

'Twill make the widow's heart to sing,

Tho' the tear were in her eye.

Then let us toast John Barleycorn,

Each man a glass in hand;

And may his great posterity

Ne'er fail in old Scotland!

Robert Burns

for seekers: Lammas, or Lughnasadh, is the fifth sabbat on the Wheel of the Year. With Lammas, we celebrate the first stirrings of autumn and the harvests. Summer, with its light and warmth, will be gone soon. Even though it doesn't quite feel like Fall yet, the coming of the dark times of the year is inevitable.

There is some debate as to the exact date of Lammas / Lughnasadh. Agriculturally speaking, this is the time when the harvests would begin and depending on the weather the celebration dates can vary (generally August 1 -6).

In many agrarian societies, the last harvested sheaf of grain was treated with special honour, for they believed that with the cutting of the last sheaf, the corn spirit retreated into the ground. There the corn spirit slept through the Winter. In the Spring that last sheaf was returned to the fields when new seed was being sown, so that its spirit would awaken both seed and land.

One traditional Lammas custom was the construction of the kern-baby, corn doll, or corn maiden. This figure, braided into a woman's form from the last harvested sheaf of grain, represented the Harvest Spirit. (In America, the tradition is continued in the making of corn husk dolls.) The doll would be saved until Spring, when it was ploughed into the field to consecrate the new planting and insure a good harvest. In other traditions, the corn dolly was fed and watered throughout the Winter, then burned in the fires at Beltane to insure a continuation of good growth.

Another custom drawn from Lammas relates to fire. Lammas was, to the Celts, one of four Great Fire Festivals, held on the cross-quarter days. During Lammas, the custom of lighting bonfires was intended to add strength to the powers of the waning sun. Afterward, the fire brands were kept in the home through the Winter as protection against storms, lightning and fires caused by lightning

MythingLinks

who's going to pick up these pieces?

I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect. (George Carlin)


Dear George,
You have only to listen to the news…the pieces of hell are in evidence everywhere.
There are pieces in the Middle East. There are pieces in Africa. There are pieces anywhere a child is harmed, and anywhere Gaia is irrevocably damaged. They are everywhere where people choose to hate rather than find a way to co-exist, and everywhere people turn their backs and do nothing to help those in need and those who suffer (not just those in war torn areas, but all those who are alone and forgotten)
…Chaos has indeed come again.
Kindest Regards,
Me


I pray for all of humanity to one day feel the pulse of the Mother Earth in their feet as they tread.
I pray for mankind to find the faith to believe in the messages carried by their dreams and to see beyond the visible world.
I pray that everyone I come in contact with can walk away with much, or at least some, of the happiness that lives within me.
I pray for peace, acceptance, and tolerance for all who express their love for the higher power (whatever that name may be).
Most of all,
I pray for an end to the violence and depravity that darkens many souls.
Peace be with us all!

photo credit: unknown