A Vow to Instinct

Yes. Indeed. Nona E has lead me to and through some ugliness this month and now she invites the spirit of Wolf into our circle.

I mentioned in my last post that she issued a message to me. Well, I'm inspired to share a wee bit of that message with you...

"Be still. Come back to center. Invite the verve back to the core. Open to it. Feel it vibrate. Feel it in your heartflame. Feel the hurt. Let down your guard. Let in the antagonist. Listen and feel ... with all your senses. Stay firm in your core, your center, don't oppose, don't compete ... simply witness." ~ Nona E

Yes. Indeed.

Wolf is a totem, an animal spirit, recognized in many paths and traditions, so it has quite a list of potential meanings, values and purposes. Yet, for me, in this circle, in this moment, Wolf invites me to nurture and renew relationship with instinct ... with my sweet and fierce intuition.

Yes. Indeed.

As it is, so shall it be.

(And since wolves howl and scavenge, I suppose some my consider such behavior akin to a ruckus, so I'm sharing this post with my painterly friends at Paint Party Friday!)

Peace.

The Wings of Ugly Forgiveness

This journal spread was several weeks in the making. Funny how something so ugly can take so long to manifest. And, let me be clear, I choose that word ~ ugly ~ from a place of observance, not of judgement. March has been a rather ugly month, ripe with blind conflict, snow and cold that just won't quit, and Nona E just badgering me with endless challenges.

In fact, the right page of this spread is a message straight from the ol' wench.

All the same, the month flew by ... on the wings of ugly forgiveness. Like a strange angel.

Yeah. And I'm really looking forward to the cleansing baptism of the April showers. Yes I am. And I'm sharing this healing ugliness with my creative friends at Mix It Monthly and Art Journal Journey.

Peace.

Light Without Foundation

A quick sketch of one of the oil lamps on the mantel yields a light without a foundation. Gotta be a metaphor in there somewhere, eh?

Sharing today's sketch with Sunday's Sketches ~ click over to enjoy some other sketchful inspirations!

And while I have your attention, merry spring to all my friends in the northern hemisphere. And autumn blessings to my friends south of the equator.

Peace.

A Savory Sage Stew

March roared in like a lion, not in terms of our ordinary, external weather, rather in terms of my own inner environment.

I discovered myself feeling feelings I had not felt in quite a while. Feelings I recognized. Feelings that demanded my attention, and begged for greater intimacy. Feelings that, in those days of memory, had become mindless and mechanical ... routine, and thereby unripe for exploration and excavation for no other reason than: Who had the time and energy for such a daily effort?

That was then. This is Now.

"Now," March roared, through the voice of Nona E, "you will make the time and invest the energy."

The feelings came to me in flavors of darkness and discomfort... anger and angst... sorrow and satire. And I recognized them as favored flavors that I seek to savor.

all you can do is love

i stewed
i sipped
i savored
i saw old in new shimmer
and new in old glimmer
and the roar hushed
and the cauldron foamed
and steamed to a simmer
i skimmed the scum
i seasoned the soup
i sipped and supped
i sensed the sage
and settled

Peace.

another chain of words that spoke to me

"... and now for something completely different ..."

the arrival cycle

we wake in deep shadow

we wake from a dream
a space of murky foolishness

where the worst of all we share

converge

where we devolve

and erode

and abandon free will

independent thought 

and action

where homogeny hungers

for all of it

for all of us

with fearless fear

and insatiable avarice

where we meet 

the dark consequences for failing to standardize the Self

the dark consequences for wearing the mantle of the Misfit
the dark consequences for speaking a Truth

the dark consequences of Compassion

anyone

anywhere

Shadow Dream exhales

and leaves us in The Long View

witnessing the small things

flecks of personal concern

dust specks on The Bigger Picture

we scold ourselves for feeding the trite
for inviting distraction that derails

for mirroring and mimicking the verve we loathe 

oh, to be human

oh, to forgive

and we pull the verve back
back to our core
to the heartflame
where the remedy resides
flickers and waits

wip20150310

Peace.

A Little More Chook Medicine

I was contemplating more on the whole of hen Medicine and discovered myself wondering about the masculine side of things ... and then found myself looking at photos of roosters. To capture the Medicine of the moment and the verve of it too, I made manifest this quick sketch which I'm sharing with you, with Sunday Sketches, and with Moo-Mania.

Peace.

The Medicine of Acceptance and/or Indifference - Or - Chook Wisdom

What a long, strange week it's been.

It's been the kind week where I've been exceptionally grateful for the company of my chooks. The Ladies are great listeners, and they offer me eggs, and laughter, and a verve of absolute acceptance. Or maybe it's indifference.

Either way, both or neither, there's Good Medicine in our relationship. For all of us.

And their Good humor, innate wisdom and generous Medicine serves to offer harmony to dissonance, as well as offer me readiness for CT NOFA's Winter Conference tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that.

Peace.

Starts and Finishes, Finishes and Starts

Just pausing to share a couple drawings for Sunday Sketches from this past week. I had started a pinecone which, clearly, I didn't finish. While waiting for a friend at a diner I did a quick drawing, gesture-style of a woman at another table... incorporating the unfinished sketch. I call her "Pinecone Head."

I had started another sketch, when my friend arrived. Methinks I'll return to the diner to finish it. Can you see what it is?

Peace.