The Summer Solstice - Joy to All

Someone was the Sun
calling from across
the little island fields

we turned and took the last
glimpse of the closing lid

"Let's go, shall we?"

I could not answer
but only followed after

just someone's glance
along the rock path.




.......Felicia Miller

 

"Now I Become Myself"

 There is a joy I find,  as I prepare to turn 65, a joy I find in the "coming into Myself" that age brings, at last, at last knowing who you are, the masks peeled away.  And the joy of knowing yourself in that beautiful field of Unknowing as well, the field of evergreen becoming.  Thanks to May Sarton for this poem.......

Now I Become Myself

Now I become myself. It’s taken
Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people’s faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
‘Hurry, you will be dead before-’

(What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)

Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!
The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.

All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.
As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.

Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

May Sarton

Amaterasu Omikami and the Sun

Hail and Awake!
Children of the blue, brown and green Earth
I have come from my shining abode in Heaven
I am Amaterasu Omikami  - Great Woman Who Possesses Noon

Here is a gift for you:
A mirror, to draw you from your cave of sleeping
To see yourself in all your wonder
Allow me to introduce you  to yourself!

Mary Kay Landon

Painting by Aya Kato,

As we approach the Summer Solstice, I think of course of the Green Man, and the many solar dieties associated with the Sun.  But there is also the wonderful story from Japan, the  tale of Amaterasu,  Goddess of  the Sun. 

Angered by her vulgar, violent brother Susanowa,  god of storms,  Amaterasu Omikami fell into despair about the ugliness and the ignorance of the world. And so, deprived of the warmth and light of the Sun, the world began to die. She retreated to a cave, and refused to  come out.   

All the Gods and Goddesses  came to the mouth of her cave, and begged Amaterasu to come out. But Amaterasu Omikami, withdrawn into her dark musings, her depression and introversion, would not, and all the pleas of those gathered could not persuade her to return to the world. 

At last, the Gods placed a  mirror at the entrance to the cave.  Then the little Goddess Uzume, known for her high humor, began to dance. Her dance was so bawdy, so absurd.......that everyone gathered had to laugh, in spite of the dire circumstances. They laughed and laughed and laughed!

With so much raucous laughter, even Amaterasu's dark thoughts were interrupted, and from  sheer curiosity she paused to wonder what was going on.  She opened the cave door just a crack, and peeked out.  And at that moment, her radiant,  shining face was reflected in the mirror. At that very moment, she saw how beautiful she was - and remembered how much joy and laughter there still was in the world, emanating from her, emanating from everyone.  And that is how Amaterasu left her cave of dark despair, forgot about her anger and disillusionment, and joined the dance of life again in all of her glory.  

There are caves of darkness into which we all retreat. For a day, a month, too many years, perhaps a lifetime. Sometimes, we have to be tricked away from abysses of the heart in order to see how beautiful, how valuable, how important the light in each of us really is, how we can ignite other lives by shining from within our own lives.   From that mirror, one can find again the desire to rejoin the hilarious, heartbreaking dance of life, and become the Sun.

Mana Youngbear  

 

Laura Janesdaughter (1999) 

Friday the 13th and the Full Honey Moon

Full Honey Moon: Friday the 13th Brings Rare Celestial Event

Published: Jun 12, 2014, 4:03 PM EDT weather.com

See video:   http://www.weather.com/news/science/space/friday-13th-june-2014-full-moon-honey-moon-20140611?cm_ven=FB_JB_61204_5

 Calling all Pagans (and pagan hearted sympathizers), tomorrow there will be an Auspicious Event in the skies, a beautiful "Honey Moon", so called for it's amber color.  For some of us, Friday the 13th is not a bad luck day at all, in fact, it's auspicious for the Goddess, and highly misunderstood.  And as for honey moons, that also is something with  a bit of little known history.

For one thing, "Friday" originally was dedicated to the Nordic Goddess Freya, otherwise known as "Freya's Day".  Freya was one of the oldest of the Nordic Gods, one of the Vanir** known for her beauty, her compassion (amber is still called "Freya's tears" ), and  importantly, she was the Goddess of love, sensuality, and, along with Odin, also associated with Seiðr,  sorcery, which may very well pertain to pre-Christian shamanic practices and beliefs.  

There are further connections between "Friday the 13" and the Goddess, the most notable being that the number 13 represents the number of lunations in a year, and in many traditions is sacred to the Goddess or the feminine aspect of deity, because there are thus 13 menstrual cycles in the year.  In many early cultures the year was determined by the number 13, the number of moons.  And last, of course, the Moon is very often associated with the Goddesses, including Selene, Isis, Artemis, and so on...............a lot of "feminine" energy, imagery, his-story, and symbology going on here, and depending on your theological point of view, either very superstitious, or very fortunate!

Last, many people may not realize that in medieval Northern Europe it was often the custom to give a newly married couple a months supply of honey mead, which was considered a very special, rare, and rather magical brew, in the hopes that it might help to bring about fertility and love.  Hence, the "Honeymoon".

John Bauer "Freya"

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanir

In Norse mythology, the Vanir (singular Vanr) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir) and are the namesake of the location Vanaheimr (Old Norse "Home of the Vanir"). After the Æsir–Vanir War, the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir. Subsequently, members of the Vanir are sometimes also referred to as members of the Æsir. 

Boxless Mind..........

Ever had one of those days that you're sure must have some symbolic meaning, but you can't quite figure out what, exactly, that might be?  No angels or wizened sages are turning up to enlighten you, so you'll just have to grumble your way through it.  About a month ago I indulged in an online rant that made me feel better, having been frustrated by several sources, but then I took it down as inappropriate, which was appropriate.  But I still like some of the images I found to go along with my being such a kermudgeon sometimes. 

The point of my rant was "thinking outside the box"...............glad I'm not ranting anymore, but hopefully, doing some "thinking outside the box", or at least, looking up occasionally...........

  

French Role Reversal Video - Provocative!

Funny, but painful..................

http://youtu.be/V4UWxlVvT1A

On what seems to be just another ordinary day, a man must deal with  sexism  in a society ruled by women.......

With Pierre Benezit, Marie-Lorna Vaconsin, Marie Favasuli, Céline Menville...
First song: Comme un garçon, by StereoTotal
Last theme: Pocket Harmony feat. Moïra Conrath

Masks Used in Willits Protest

 Delighted to see these photos of Ann Weller and Mana Youngbear wearing the Gaia and Pachamama masks at a protest against the proposed Highway 101 Bi-pass project by Cal Trans, which would destroy much beautiful redwood forest and other local eco systems.