Wild Violets & Candy Wrappers

Part of my reality is finding signs and omens - a helpful, mysterious picture of nature that exists on an elevated level which we should perceive in order to learn.  On Saturday, April 13th (does that date mean anything to you?) I was walking along near a field and I saw masses of blooming wild violets, one of my most special Spring flowers.  Actually, I hunt them by scent -  perfume precedes their appearance.  So fragrant and delicate...and to think some people destroy them as garden weeds!  Bad karma doing that.  A garden is blessed with wild violets.  Only few varieties of butterflies and moths receive nourishment from these tiny flowers.

They were growing in thriving green grass so instead of searching around to pick each stem, I wrapped my hand around a clump, grass & all, and picked them.  My place is down the road a short distance so I held them like that until I got home and put them on my kitchen counter for a few seconds while I filled a tiny purple vase with water and a penny in the bottom, for copper nutrients.

When I separated the violets from grass, a piece of paper was crumpled up among them.  I unwrapped this paper after placing the flowers in the vase.  It was a candy wrapper, blue and yellow.  The Spanish name "Espanto" was in big letters, (which means fear or fright I translated on Google later).  With a magnifying glass as the letters were worn, I deciphered print on the side "Argentina" and under "Espanto" I made out part letters of  "Halloween"!  Here's cell phone pics taken that day.

A candy wrapper of a Halloween candy from Argentina picked up with the only bunch of violets I chose in that field...a powerful sign.

Now what does it mean as an omen?   Could mean many things - up to me to choose the message.

April Day, Emerald & Grey

"When that April with his showres soote....
Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye...."

Geoffrey Chaucer - The General Prologue - The Canterbury Tales - written 1386, Middle English

I'm back with some of my April cheer!  Fresh is the air, and nitrogen infuses new plants to shine crystal emeralds in their dewy leaves.  Silver are the drops that fall through brightening rays, and all life sings sweet songs.  I want to share some of my favorite songs - besides Led Zep my religion lol! - with you and describe back stories about why I love these tunes.

I'll start with a song by ABBA.  I love the line "I don't want to talk".  That phrase sums up a lot for me sometimes.  After "The Winner Takes It All" this blog becomes more uplifting...to show anyone how to rise from the doldrums of despair to happiness and optimism...really!!

Next, in a tribute to my sister who passed away, I have several favorite Beatles songs.  My sister brought her first Beatles records when I was just a little kid - I learned much about music from her- forever grateful.  When I heard John Lennon wail about his woman crying ...I felt so grown up and mature - because I totally understood..."This Boy"

Around the same era, 1964, my sister had Beach Boys albums...and they are truly uplifting all the time.  I am a  West Coast girl with a capital W and these boys embody all that's good about California spirit!  Their lyrics include place names all up the coast, style is described and the mood is fresh as ocean breeze!  After this song, I grew up appreciating a tan, going in the water, wearing harachi sandals and having a bushy blonde hairdo!  Life altering...here's "Surfing USA!".

Since my recent trip to Maui, I have a new love for the ocean and admiration for the history of surfing.  John Heath 'Doc' Ball was tremendously influential in the growth of surfing in California.  In 1929 when he started riding the waves there were only around 20 surfers in the USA.  They got the idea from Hawaiians, particularly the famous Duke Kahanamoku, surfing legend, who reintroduced this ancient sport of royalty from Hawaii to mainland America.

Doc Ball should not be forgotten, ever.  His story in part is below.  Check the link, please!

http://files.legendarysurfers.com/surf/legends/ls07.shtml

Now, aren't you feeling happy?!  I am - enjoy the Spring!!

East Star

I love Easter - always have...it's my fave modern holiday.  Yes, I understand enough theology to know & appreciate the significance of death and resurrection - and I'm grateful for all books including the bible.  Whatever is comforting - any knowledge is good.  If people would study before they speak about life & death we would have a better world.  In my constant search for origins of our beliefs, I came across some literature a long time ago - so here it is to share with you.

The Empress, Trump card #3 in the Tarot deck sits with The Papess (yes, there were female popes) Trump Card #2.  The Papess is known in more recent times as The High Priestess, of the moon.  The Empress is a spirit of Springtime and creation.  She is 'All-Mother' or 'The Lawgiver'  Her ius naturale or natural law governed matriarchal societies in ancient Latium.

Tarot Trump cards are paired, first with last, second with second last and so on.  Why?  Unknown reasons but any theories are always good!  The Empress wears a crown of stars (count them - everything in Tarot is for a symbolic reason)and corresponds to The Star, Trump card #17.

There are older names the Empress had - one was Ostara, who was the same Goddess Eostre that gave her name to Easter.  When we talk about stars, endless possibilities come into focus, literally.  We are talking about stars rising on the horizon in astrology, and star constellations & their myths in astronomy.  We are talking about space & cosmic travel, perhaps advanced civilizations who are waiting for us to either heal our planet through love, or watching us as a failed experiment as we destroy ourselves and Earth.

If we keep our minds open and combine everything using logic, deduction and imagination we can see there's so much to learn about Easter.  I like to think of Jesus dying for us...and I believe he was the son of a god, he knew much of ancient Orphic mysteries and he knew how to use the forces of natural law.  He was not just a magician as some people recently claim - he was a genius speaking in parables.  I believe he walked among men and tried to show them what he knew about love.

I believe everything has to do with light & stars.  Rays & angles of reflection.  Heat & life. I believe everything has to do with love.  Easter is a beautiful time, the first Sunday after a full moon.  What a wonderful pagan concept!  The silver moon.  Wild violets are just starting to blossom and their scent is in the air. Lambs are being born.  Do you know the only word that rhymes with 'silver' in the English dictionary is 'chilver'?  A chilver is a female lamb. Mysteries of life abound.

Happy Eostre!!

 A Faberge Imperial Egg for you, given to the Empress many years ago!  Sail on & happy journeys...still thinking of going back to Maui and getting a condo there away from Canadian winters!

St. Pat's & Druids in trees

According to my  sources, St. Pat lived very close to the Druids and much of symbolism originated in paganism long before he was born.   A shamrock is trefoil, used in Tarot, sign of Wands and as meanings of Tarot are obscure as the deck is of unknown origin, we've lost the symbolism and can only use what limited info we have from every source.  More importantly we have to use our imaginations.  Why?  To help Earth.  "Do no harm" is a mantra.

 Later, Wands became Clubs in a standard deck to this day.  The shamrock corresponds to number three, which is a trine in astrology, triple goddess in paganism and Holy Trinity in modern religion.  Basically, a trine is harmonious angles and perhaps perpetual motion, which perhaps involves a smooth way of travelling through the cosmos.  A triangle is pyramids.  Speaking of a Trinity, what a coincidence the new Pope is from Argentina and a big fan of San Lorenzo, like Viggo M!  This is a cool connection,   How do I know what's to be?  Who knows, I follow the signs of nature, like in LOTR.

  I hope Pope Francis took the name partly because of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and environment.  Our world's animals need help, as does our environment.  Please help in any way you can - if you must eat meat (and I don't see why), do your health a favor and choose farm raised organic, not factory farmed.  Okay, I'll step off the soapbox...just saying!

What does all this mean about St Pat's?  Everybody's right, nobody's wrong!  We all modernize the deck we're dealt with and play it our way...but I like to think of  magic and druids.  To me all that lost knowledge holds the key to our existence.  I love to be in a place, physically and mentally, that's healthy and harmonious angles. Every myth began as reality...so I continue to have myths as a basis of my reality.

I'm learning much about the myths of Hawaii.  Here's a tree near a beach in Kihei, Maui when we were there  a couple of weeks ago. It was at one of those many beautiful beach areas where you can just park a car nearby and go for a swim in the ocean!  In the background is a changeroom. There are so good things of nature to notice in Maui.  You can almost see a spirit and faces of this big lovely tree.

Good to know Robert took a hol in the islands before his gigs down under... Here's a vid for you.

But really...who will champion MsMerlina?  Lancelot?  I love the tale of Le Morte d'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory..

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Mahalo & Aloha...

I'm back now - although part of me is still in Maui, Hawaii...in my dreams, thoughts and inspiration as I walk through sleet & chill of late winter here in this B.C. valley.  Spring is approaching in my neighborhood and new green shoots of tulips help me to think ahead...but Spring here isn't what it was in the days of my youth.  Back then it was a tourist/orchard & sparkly lake area - now, especially now after Maui...I'm not sure what this place in the Okanagan B.C. is - definitely city planning wasn't with thoughts of beauty and serenity...we can't get it back.  Traffic here is nonstop, the city is not clean - can't be as healthy as it was in the 70's.  The lake, in most areas and definitely at public beaches in my hometown area doesn't pass my swimsuit test - my method of measurement of clean water.  In summer I can smell lake water in varying degrees depending on beach attended after I wash my swimsuit with mild soap & hang it to dry.  In Maui my swimsuit smelled...like mild soap after I washed it.  The water in Maui is clean - I can say this affirmatively as I'm a beach & water addict!

I know for certain after experiencing Maui's fresh, scented air, the clean water of Kihei, Launiupoko and Kaanapali, the absence of billboards and litter...I know for sure the Okanagan is not purely where my heart is anymore.  Maybe it was that last photo I took of the antique poster in our Lahaina condo - the one of those surfers in the year 1935 where they all stood in a row with their boards behind them...the flash of my camera was right against a young wild Hawaiian surfer boy's heart. I think a surfer spirit jumped into my soul at that moment...and it was meant to be.  Here's a photo of me in the warm waves of Kihei.  We went to many beaches, so casual to park our rental car anywhere along the road as there are so many beaches, all open to public with change rooms, picnic tables and most of these beaches with very few people around.  Lovvvee the beaches and water everywhere, they're all fantastic!

Maui is a romantic, beautiful, dreamy place with warm breezes everywhere and quaint shops on Front St, Lahaina where we watched sunsets as we sat at different open air restaurants nightly...up on the second floor always, overlooking the harbour.  We sat and passed around a huge piece of Hula pie - my sister, my Mom, my niece and I as it melted into a chocolate macadamia whipped cream mounded confection - we passed it like someone would pass a joint around the table, but this was a giant piece of pie consumed to the sounds and sights of 3 Hawaiian guys playing guitars & ukelele & singing.  What paradise this island is!

We went to the Whale Museum at Whaler's Village Kaanapali and read histories of sailors who owed the ship money after 3 years at sea catching whales and then they had to sign on for another 2 years at sea to pay the ship back after risking life and limb.  In the museum we saw giant immense hooks and a huge black cauldron for blubber - many momentos of ships and sailors - I could feel the history & hardship.  One day we toured with the Pacific Whale Foundation and saw many whales in an area past the harbour in shallow waters, their sprays of water visible like alternating sudden fountains across the blue ocean surface everywhere.  They surfaced and dove.  I'm glad I belong to this foundation - the people do much to save these gentle, graceful creatures...and we heard whale songs from a submerged microphone, with amplifier in the boat.

We sat at gorgeous Banyan Tree Square in shaded daylight.  At dusk, thousands of birds going to roost sing so loud - an amazing chorus and as night falls they are quiet.  Here's a pic of the Banyan tree and an unknown little girl passing in front of this gigantic wonderful tree with its many offshoots all around.

There were so many interesting things to do...but we relaxed as the pace of the island is not conducive to running around in haste.  We did a lot of things outdoors.  There's Art Night every Friday and more art galleries in Lahaina per capita than any U.S. city...and Fridays they serve champagne and wine.  Hawaiians are friendly, great people everywhere with much dignity and spirit. I'm now learning the Hawaiian language online, and in learning I also consulted their dictionary of words on the internet.  I see how intriguing the meanings of their words, the basis of their language is - so mystical with only a few consonants - it's a flowing water language, with whale and bird songs and no harshness at all - it's like they don't want any "s" for hissing like invoking the spirits of volcanoes, devoid of any hard hitting sounds also.

Our condo was lovely and I would love to buy a place there, in Lahaina, where Maui weather is warmest.  I dream of going back and having a place there for part of the year...now I have to think of how to make this dream a reality.  Here's a photo I took of a Hawaiian ginger plant in blossom at our condo.  To all the wonderful, gracious people I met on this enlightening, healing, and loving holiday I say Aloha and Mahalo.  The vacation is a memory my loved ones and I will cherish always.  I will go back...a spirit surfer has entered my soul.

The Snake and More

Today is the Chinese new year to meet the new moon and year of the Snake.  What's my take...on the snake?  A flow of energy...curving, following contours.  Try to stop the flow and you will be bitten.  Snake venom is not to be ignored.  Go with the flow and use my highest intuition as this is a powerful year, even more so than last year's Dragon as the Snake is not seen as easily.

I'm enjoying NHL hockey and the Canucks are doing well.  I feel people shouldn't be so demanding of goalie Luongo...what you see is what you get - no matter how much money given to him, he's doing his best so accept him for what he is.  I'm weary of the Luongo controversy going on for years.  Good game, bad game, so what?  He can't help it.  I have a theory - the best goalies who are consistent for years do not live in the present but they exist a few seconds in the future, like Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur.  They just know what to expect in a game - partly intuition....like the year of the Snake teaches us.  Not all is right in front of us, but we can look ahead using our senses.

I've not gone to Maui yet, but soon we'll be there!  I miss swimming and the ocean will be a welcome sight.  Here's something I wrote last summer by the lake...it is in my Summer Proems file.  Talk to you again.  Peace and love.

More

I’m not below the radar, I’m above it

In black space or transparent fever,

Depending on the sun -

Worshipping, moving like glass molten,

Unformed liquid sand,

I’m edges broken down to clarity,

Countless edges, still reflecting,

Sometimes invisible even when

I want to be seen.

More.  I want more.

“More you say?” a Dickens’s character

Hovers around me.  “More?”

He wears sturdy cobbler shoes well polished

And clean white socks.

My eyes stay focused on his feet.

He vanishes not fighting my imagination.

“Yes, more!” I’m glad to yell

Plunging into shocking water

So misleading in its serenity,

I’m at the intersection

Of two joined bodies in blue,

One to float on, one to look up to,

One to hold, one to have.

Calm, my mind submerged,

Thankful to my angels

Knowing they understand my exuberance

Now softly asking them again.

Requesting more joy can’t be wrong

If I’m already happy.

The Hobbit & Candlemas

The weekend of Candlemas in Christianity or Imbolc in Paganism has passed... of one tree have branches sprung, meanings obscured in antiquity...of lambs newborn, the light of Spring... rituals ancient and, as always, holding keys to our existance. Reflections in pools of water, divination.  Think of the words 'divine nation'.  Makes me think of celestial beings, as above so below.

I saw the Hobbit, finally, last week, in 3D at night with a friend.  Loved the movie!  3D was superb. I can't see one reason to criticize anything at all - some critics were exactly as their 'title' suggests, too severe in their assessments entirely.  One reason I didn't see the movie until last week was because some reviews stated The Hobbit was too long.  I was a bit hesitant to go! I thought the movie would be too much after re-reading the book recently.  I imagined all kinds of things - my imagination got the better of me.  The movie was not too long at all!  Actually, background stories included were very helpful to the audience.  Director Peter Jackson was kind and considerate to include all these scenes.  All so beautiful, the music stirred memories of Lord of the Rings movies, the characters reminded me of coming home.  Gandalf - wonderful, Galadriel - breathtakingly lovely, Bilbo Baggins - really great in the role...Elrond and all - just fabulous.

Another reason I didn't go see it until last week was because Viggo Mortensen isn't in the movie or I would have been there first week!  He was amazing as Aragorn in all the Lord of the Rings movies and the chemistry was intense between Aragorn and Arwen...so tender, intuitive, passionate, caring, loving.  Liv Tyler and Viggo were perfect together.

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are constant themes in my life, as I've alluded to in previous blogs.  When I received The Hobbit novel in the 1970's as a gift, I couldn't complete reading the book.  Imagery was unsettling to me.  I didn't visualize the hobbits to be like they would be portrayed in the movies decades later.  In the '70's when I met my husband-to-be at his place (living in his parents' basement suite) he had a copy of the Hobbit sitting on his desk and he had been reading it.  Finally, years later, I picked up the book again and read it but didn't read The Lord of the Rings trilogy until many years after that...don't know why, always been a bit hesitant.  The imagery is very vivid imo...and I've grown to love all the books.  The movies are very extremely beautiful.

Here's the official trailer of the Hobbit.

I'm thankful & grateful to have experienced this beautiful movie - looking forward to Part 2!  Also counting the days until Maui!  I'll be hanging out at beaches on the west coast and at Banyan Tree Square in Lahaina soon!