Handfasting Vow

I drew this last night inspired by thoughts of love and lovers. The Vow is bits and pieces of different ceremonies and some of my own parts which I feel fit well together. A vow of love I believe in and would make to my loved one. This blog is a tribute to love and lovers and the magick that they build together.

The hand fast cords symbolize 9 Promises brought to the joining:

Gold=(Masculine) Unity and longevity

Silver= (Feminine) Creativity, inspiration

White=Truth, peace, devotion

Purple= Healing, health

Light blue=Understanding, patience

Red=Love and passion

Orange=Kindness, encouragement, plenty

Yellow = Harmony, confidence

Green= Prosperity, beauty, nurturing

The stag horn = represents the man thought to be one of the three oldest animals also a symbol of Earth. also represents rebirth (new beginning), hunter(provider) and prowess(protection).

The rings or bands=completion and unity a token of the love that encircles the joining.

The flowers = represents the woman 9 tokens of her gift to her loved one.

Apple Blossom = Friendship and celebration of life

Lavender = Happiness and healing

Jasmine = intimacy and sleep

Rose = Love and Beauty

Ivy = Eternal Life, binding magick and protection

Lotus = Spirituality

Mistletoe = Good fortune, health and fertility

Orchid = Thoughtfulness

Rosemary = Memory and longevity

The stars represent = constant The stones represent= strength

Handfasting Vows

I offer thee my vow freely and with no restraint.

You are a precious gift to me, bringing joy into my life. I respect the bond between us and promise to keep it alive always and forever.

I promise to keep your trust, to be your best friend, your lover, and to share in your hopes and dreams. I promise to love thee wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in time of want, as long as love last.

To desire and be desired by thee, to walk with thee, to stand with thee in the purity of love.

Memories we share together, moments no one else will know. I will keep them close to me, never to let them go. By the life of my blood and love of my heart I take thee to my hand, my heart and my spirit to be my loved one. I will not seek to change thee. I will respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people and thy ways as I respect myself and my own.

Above us the stars, like the stars should our love be constant. Below us the stones, like the stones should our love be strong. We face the storms of life together. The world may grow cold but cannot freeze us, we will forever be together even when we are apart.

With arms to hold and support you, kisses soft and lingering and a love unbroken I do promise thee with love.

Blessings be with us Air, tie closely the bonds between us.

Blessings be with us Fire, Give our love and passion your warmth.

Blessings be with us Water, Give us who desire it the love and depth of body, soul and spirit.

Blessings be with us Earth, Lend our love your strength as long as we may live.

Blessings be with us Spirit of the Great Mystery, Give us your unconditional love and ever vigilant protection, shining wisdom, patience and understanding.

Always and Forever.

Guardian of the Flaming Pearl

The drawing was done early this morning, after doing the Awakening the Dragon that I learned from "The Celtic Spirit" the story to follow is a combination of tales that I have read or heard.
The Guardian of the Flaming Pearl

I was born in the year of the Dragon. It is said that dragons where of a time of chaos, a time other then that of man. The Eastern cultures believe the Dragon symbolizes the essence of the spiritual half of the cosmos. The Dragon breath in -takes the chaos of the unformed potentials and breaths out the order of our nature. The Dragons represent chaos (I have found this funny as I was once told I was too chaotic always changing) and the Dragons bring eternal change.
The Flaming Pearl represents man's awakening conscience.

Now my twist to the tales of Dragon;
In years beyond recording Dragons were the seers of what others cannot see, the spirit of eternal change they were born out of a time of chaos and destruction, they were Guardians and they became the guardians of man, their most precious treasure was the Flaming Pearl.
Man believed it would multiply what ever it touched and Kings sought it to increase their wealth.

The Dragons had protected man from the wraths of Gods many died in the fight for humanity, for the search for the pearl. The Dragons grew impatient of man's infancy they took counsel and decide man would not see the Flaming Pearl, in man's infancy the pearl was hidden in view of all mankind, the guardians shifted into their human appearance and walked among the children.

The Dragons watched, they taught and soon they saw some men transcended infancy to maturity and new possibilities of life opened but not all found the Flaming Pearl and those who did marveled that they had not recognized it before.

In finding the Flaming Pearl (Wisdom) man learned to awaken the dragon, the life giving energy within themselves and all living things. Looking into the depths of our soul we hear the song of our true selves we pass beyond the limits of our body and transcend to the level of our elders the Guardians of the Flaming Pearl ,the Spirit of eternal change, the Spark of light from the creation of the Universe and The Hope of Tomorrow.

Lord Grul, Guardian of the North bring the blessings of the Earth
Bless us with respect, endurance, prosperity and help us to
know the purpose in this life.

Lord Sairys, Guardian of the East bring the blessings of the Air
Bless us with brilliance and promises of sunshine flood us
with optimism, joy, intelligence, renew us with the helpful airs.

Lord Fafnir, Guardian of the South bring the blessings of Fire
Bless us with the light of enthusiasm, change, passion, courage,
will power and leadership.

Lord Naelyn, Guardian of the West bring the blessings of Water
Blessings of the water of life flow over us blessings of compassion,
peacefulness, forgiveness, love, intuition, calmness, peace of mind.

In the Love and Light of your blessings may man mature and in their
maturity find the true treasure of the Flaming Pearl within them.

May you find your Flaming Pearl and your Guardian Dragon.

L'chaim .... To Life

I always loved the sound of the word" L'chaim" since I heard it in "fiddler on the roof" some words just make you feel good.
Anthony de Mello said "Life is a banquet and the tragedy is that most people are starving to death."

We live in a time of high technology, high stress events and high demands and high lack of a real appreciation and understanding of Life.


Often we hurry around and never allow ourselves to see the little things. We can become so lost in keeping up with the Jones we never appreciate what we have for what we think we need or want. We starve when in reality we are gorged.


Sadly enough sometimes Life has to literally knock us down and out before we see how Life starved we have become, before we see another chance to live.


Some will only see Life after they have experienced an illness.some may have to experience a loss of someone either through divorce, breakup or even death.

Life can be overwhelming and demanding at times we've all had moments like that but often we have also had a hint which we often over look. Followed later by a great jolt to say that we can have another chance to live, another chance to attend Life's banquet.

May your plate of Life be filled and your hunger fed.

L' chaim... To Life

A Rainbow for Mama

This image I drew for my mother sadly enough she never saw it in person. The letter which follows was my sharing with a friend. In Memory of my mother Marion Plumer Feb 1942 - July 2008

Last night I started a blog "A Place in the World" but I didn't finish it I felt something, but wasn't real sure what so I waited. I have been sitting here running visions of my mother through my head.

I remember her as a towering enormous sight I can see her walking into my mind. Many times I compared my mother's face to that of the Bergermitzer in "Santa Claus is Coming to town" not because she was an unattractive woman but because of the features.

Her eyes hard, cold and the frowning of eternal displeasure was it with dad, the boys, my sister or with me, was it with some one outside the family or just everything with her life in general.

My youth seemed spent fighting her for one reason or another, sometimes there didn't even have to be a reason. I can hear her "Cherry Kim (I always knew she was serious when she used both names) you don't know to stay to your own kind", "You never know when to hold your tongue" "You better leave your heathen ways", "you're just too damn stubborn and willful for your own good."

In some ways she was right, in some she was wrong. In 2001 when I brought mama to live with me (Yes everyone was shocked) It was in fact a selfish act on my part really as I thought if I could give her what she couldn't I could heal myself and the wounds, put to rest old ghost.

At the airport seeing her I thought how very small she seemed, so fragile in body and while the Bergermitzer frown was there the eyes where not hard and cold but filled with something much worse. They held pain, sorrow and hopelessness. the pitiful had replaced the frightening.

She held her head down and somehow it made her seem defeated and the woman I had known in my life was a stranger to me, my mother had sworn like a sailor, could nail you with a shoe as you ran for cover, make you cry and cringe when she used your full name.
This vision of my mother only made me feel protective of her and determined to care for her.

As the days passed I had began for the first time to see, to understand and even to know the woman who was my mother.

A woman with dreams as shattered as herself, with wounds perhaps even deeper then the ones she had inflicted. I wondered was it choice or chance that had made her as she had been.

It doesn't excuse her actions, but it does give an understanding of maybe why? I found it easier to give her what she couldn't. It didn't change what had been but I was able to give her some peace and some for myself too.

Now sitting here waiting to hear that final call I just want for her to have the peace and happiness, she never found here on earth in her life, I don't know that my mother ever knew her place in the world.

She was my father's wife, she was our mother but she never really knew or belonged to herself until it was too late. Then dreams turned to ashes and hope dimmed each year.

She sang like an angel. I remember her singing to me now, she had heard me once singing to Kat and told me she had sang that to me when I was little.

Tonight I remember her singing the "The Old Rugged Cross", "Soldier Soldier"(The song I sang to Kat) and my favorite "Beautiful Dreamer".

Tonight I recall a doll that cried and her removing the batteries in the middle of the night ( I was up playing) and I recall watching her drawing and designing the wedding dress I never wore because we had a fight I refused to wear it even if she had time to make it.

I don't get to say good bye to her but at least a couple years ago I got to say hello to my mother, not perfect but we had come to terms with one another, had a better understanding of each other and maybe became a bit more like mother and daughter.

No one is all bad or all good. Mama was no different.

To Teach Is To Learn

"The Bridge between" painted by me today after a night of some rather interesting dreams and thoughts.



To Teach Is To Learn

A teacher is someone that hears more then his/her own voice.
Someone who lives by what is taught and can learn as well.

If teaching of peace, patience, tolerance and awareness and humanity.

Then it would appear to be better taught without contempt for humanity.


A teacher is someone who believes they are A path, A truth. But not so self superior or arrogant enough to believe that they are The path, The truth.


A teacher can not teach others when placing limits and restricts on them, of what the teacher thinks he/she knows and what he/she refuses to know.

If the teacher is closed so may be the student.

A teacher knows the journey of Life is made with one step at a time, it flows like the river, it's strong as the stones, it burn like fire and it breaths through us like the wind. Life is about opening our minds, extending our ourselves beyond what was and what is to what Can be.

A teacher can not teach a future when he/she does not have hope and faith in a future.

"Who am I" is the starting point. Its the whispering that calls the spirit, the path that is traveled and the journey that passes through the old with respect to create something new with Passion of Life.

How well do you know yourself? Not what you think you know or what others think they know of you. What is the deepest true song of who you are?

No teacher can teach you this only you know the song planted like a seed within, only you know how to nurture its growth and transformation and only you can harvest it fruits and magick.

Ca 'ch Angerdd i mewn Buchedd.
Find Your Passion in Life.

Candles in the Night

Image is mine titled Healing Protection Remembrance

Candles in the Night
I lit two candles tonight lavender color with a healing sign, white with a protection sign. I lit incense rosemary for remembrance.

Some say Lavender heals all things. Maybe that’s why I like it so much in shampoo and soap and fragrances of room air mist. Heal all things and all people. There sure are a lot of people hurting in the world, young people lost and troubled, adults confused and lonely and elders who think they have out lived their own use.

Sometimes we have to help the healing. Find the lost and trouble its kind of nice to be looked for, found and just heard, listen and touch the lonely and walk with the elders back into life, back into who they are not who they think they are.

Lady of Love and Light
Hear my heart and soul tonight
On this day and in this hour I call
upon the higher power.

I come to you in perfect love and
perfect trust.

Protect those in need on their journeys be it
a journey of mind, of body or of soul.
Keep them safe and from harm and negatives,
from deceit and betrayal.

Walk with them in the darkness and guide
them through to the light. Let them know
the touch of your hand and hear the
whispering of your voice. Quite the troubled,
confused and aching of their souls.

By the powers that are yours help them
find the strength of spirit, the courage
and gentleness of heart. Help them to
find what they have always
possessed within them.

Climbing the Mountain of Truth

Image from my doodles Title: Finding My Own Deep True Song (This image I drew during a conversation with Ron)
Climbing The Mountain Of Truth is about finding the deep true song of what are wants are, what we need, what we feel its a walk of connection with ourselves where we discover both the mundane and spiritual aspects of who we are.
The climb is a walk very much like a labyrinth, the first level of the climb has five parts. At the plateau on the path to the second level of four parts the next plateau to the third level and then straight on to the mountain peak and light.
There are no wrong or right answers its finding meaning in symbols, and truth of the song deep with in our soul that we often don't hear. Be spontaneous go with your first thought or feeling. In an earlier blog I mentioned that "They say the eyes are windows to the soul." Could a spontaneous answer be the doorway to the soul.

Climbing the Mountain of Truth

Its a weather perfect day as you approach the mountain base and prepare to climb the mountain path you look around.
Describe the weather? what do you see? what do you feel?

You start your climb up the mountain in your solitary moment you begin to walk through your mind, through your life each step is like an echo through time. The first five steps of your climb are of feelings, thoughts and expectations.

As you start your climb before the first bend you ask.
What motivates you? What are your goals? define innocence?

As you make the turn and start the second bend you ask.
What are your expectations? desires? what are you hoping for?

As you make the turn and start the third bend you meet a man and a woman.
Describe each of them your first impressions? ideas? feelings?

As you walk on to the fourth bend on the path the weather changes.
What is it like? Describe your feelings about the change?

As you walk on to the fifth bend a large rest area with a plateau, you look around you've come only a short ways still a very long climb.
What will you do? What do you see behind you? What do you see before you?

As you climb on up the mountain approaching the sixth bend you ask.
What are your fears? What are your doubts? What is the worst that can happen?
What is the best that can happen? What is the middle ground?

As you walk on to the seventh bend you find the way blocked.
What is it? What happens?

As you reach the eighth bend there is another change in the weather and the ground of the path is uneven, less traveled and more challenging.
What do you feel? Describe what you see?

You have reached the next rest plateau you look around you have come half way.
What do you see behind you? What do you see before you? What do you need?
What must you be aware of? What makes you move forward?

As you start to climb the last level you look at your thoughts, feels and yourself.
What perception of your truth do you have?

As you climb on toward the approaching top.
What Exhilarates you? What makes you feel the rapture of being alive?
What makes you feel alone? What makes you feel Complete?

The mountain peak is in sight.
what else do you see? how do you feel?

Standing on the mountain top.
what is your ultimate truth?

We each have a song of our life deep within us a song our soul's sing that only we hear it is our truth, it's who we are.

May you climb the mountain of life and sing out with the deep true song of your soul.

May it lift you and fill you with its strength, happiness, peace, love, hope and wisdom and may it fill the air of the world in harmony and celebration with life.

From Ashes Hope Raises

(Image by me)Phoenix Song

From Ashes Hope Raises
The legend of the Phoenix is if you look at it in one view the tale of human life a cycle of faith, strength, home, death and rebirth and hope. In the legend the Phoenix is a lone beautiful bird blessed by the Sun God Apollo, but in its immortality it becomes hunted for it’s beautiful feathers so that it flew away to far east hidden desert away from humans.

The Phoenix in this hidden world could fly freely and sing its song of praise and as the centuries pasted and the Phoenix aged it decided to return to its place of origin the trip back was hard he was older, weaker and had to stop and it gathered cinnamon bark and fragrance leaves it returned home to the tallest palm tree it had collected myrrh and shaped an egg.

The Phoenix sang to the Sun to make him young and that song the Sun heard and in its fierce rays the sun shined down upon the Phoenix, there was a flash of light and the Phoenix burst into a ball of fire.

When the flames had died down the nest and tree remained unaffected but the Phoenix had disappeared, in the silvery ash of what was. Something began to slowly heave itself upward and as it stretched its neck, flapped its wings moment to moment it grew until it was the same size as it had been it hollowed out the myrrh egg and placed the ashes of it’s old self inside.

And flew to the sun temple where it placed the egg on the sun’s altar then flew away to the faraway East returning home to the mountain top in the West every 500 years when it is old and weak to be reborn young and strong. The Phoenix is a beautiful and unique bird.
(summary of my favorite Phoenix Tale)

We humans are born and blessed very much like the Phoenix and in our mortality find ourselves the hunter as well as the hunted, we each are beautiful and unique in our own colors. We are born.

We track treasures in money, in positions, houses and things. While the true treasures of our lives tend to elude us they are often hidden away from us because we won’t see. We dis value ourselves and others.

We hide ourselves in worlds we create safe from other humans hidden so we won’t get hurt, we can be free to be who we are, to follow a life we keep for ourselves. We take flight, travel, and explore life away from the familiar. We grow.

We live each day surviving the trials of life, we learn our strengths and weaknesses we develop our faith. We learn the songs of our lives and when our strength wanes we remember were we came from. We remember home.

Each time we face the challenges in our lives or change the course we walk through our lives, we burn away the old us and emerge new, younger and stronger. We are reborn

With each rebirth a new hope comes, a hope for a better tomorrow, a better us and a better way that we approach life. From the Ashes of our own past and present Hope raises for our future. We begin a new life.

We’re not going to always know the right thing to say, the right step to make. Nothing in this life or any other is going to be flawless that’s the beauty of it and the uniqueness of it.

But unlike the Phoenix we don’t have to wait to get old to start new and young and fresh every time we the human race decided to burn away the old us; the one who valued money more then people, progress more then nature. We rise up from those ashes into a new Hope for our children and our children’s children.

As kids hope is like breathing in as we get older we view hope as we would the Phoenix something legends are made of, but even legends have been known to be more if you believe in hope, if you hold on to it and nurture it then hope grows and it will burst into a new flame, one that lights the world.

May the Ashes of your life,
Ignite the flames of your life,
And fill you with Hope’s light.

Taking root..... A Birch Tale

photo from interenet search

Lady of the Woods is what they call the birch tree its a slender tall tree its the first tree to grow on bare soil and from that one tree it can birth an entire forest.

On one of the many journeys I walked insearch of balance. I was to meditate on the birch tree, there are lessons we learn on all paths, in every connection we have and everything and everyone we encounter on the path.

I went into the wild open space beside a river and where I had seen a small grove of birch trees, I sat there listening to the river, feeling the earth strong beneath my feet solid in my hand and I listened and felt the air around me. I watched it dance through the tall birch branches and heard it whisper softly in each rustling.

I wondered what I was missing the mediation was to see what insight I would receive what inner thought spoke to me.

I sat there for hours and wondered what I was missing. Then I got up and went home a few nights after that failing, when the night breeze drifted through my open window with the dancing chime of the wind chimes in the trees outside. I drifted off to sleep.

I am not strong in meditation in that I can sit and drift into it. But I am better at visualization of what will open before my heart and mind it will open before my open eyes as I walk, as I dance, and as I dream.

I was walking back along the river only this time I walked bare foot along the river to the small grove as I stepped beneath the birch boughs I saw scattered birch trees, some where young just starting out their life others were older I walked among them I laid my hand upon them and felt the life force that all living things have.

As I walked among the trees listening to the river and the wind I came to the heart of the grove the tallest tree as I got closer it was different it was not a tree it was a woman more brilliant and clear in my mind. She was smiling at me and she held up her hand to me and there was a silver thread in it. It sparkled between us and as I looked I saw it passing right through me, I looked and the silver thread webbed out passing through trees, rock, earth and river.

As I looked closer I saw faces old and young in the trees, rocks, earth and the river too. I looked back at the Lady and found the tree and the woods as it had been, and yet it was different I was connected rooted in a deeper sense of life and the connection I have with other living things.

I woke with an insight:

We may not see the threads of life that connect us , that give us our deep roots and beginnings but we can feel it within us and that is were in our deepest core of being we will find a way to see what our eyes may not let us see. We will take root sort of speak and we will grow into a forest, the thread that connects us will reach where ever we are it is never severed, even when we will not see beyond the forest.

Every new beginning is bare soil, like the Birch we too can and will take root strong and we will grow because our roots are a symbol of our life force, our faith and our strength.

We are apart of something greater and (thought at times it may not seem like it) it is secure and strong. We have to rid ourselves of negativity, unhelpful influences and bad thoughts which bind us and limit us and we need to tap into and hold on to the positive thoughts that will encourage us and breath through us like the wind and flow out of us like the river.

If we want changes in our lives well the Divine can only do so much, at some point we have to move the Earth (Ourselves) to build a future of hope, strength and growth.

this brings to mind Abby Willowroot's Prayer:

Make me strong in spirit,

courageous in action,

gentle in heart,

Let me act in wisdom,

conquer my fear and doubt,

discover my own hidden gifts,

Meet others with compassion,

be a source of healing energies,

And face each day with Hope and Joy.

May your journey in this world be blessed.

Shooting Dad or In My Case Dancing with Dad

Dancing with Dad

I read an essay by Sarah Vowell titled "Shooting Dad" it was an expression and detail account of her relationship with her father their conflicts and their realizations as well as a lesson learned.

We don't always get a chance to say the things we want to say and sometimes we say more then we should. My relationship with my father was far from the norm and the last things I said to him where based on the torments of a past not completely open to me.

My father use to hunt and fish, I was fortunately spared that ordeal. I enjoy the woods and lake just not the other and being a female it was not expected of me to indulge in this area. We often clashed on any number of issues. For the most part we shared nothing in common, I contributed very little positive to my father (or my mother) but in all fairness we did have a common interest a gift given whether by choice or by accident but given at any rate. Our passion for music and dance.

Sadly enough it wasn't until last summer that I could see beyond the shadows into a new light of my own past.

It was a beautiful morning in mid summer and the sun shined so clear it washed over the world with its brilliance, I had started on my way to work a normal routine day. When from off the top of Table Mountain a colorful glider burst into view it was red, blue, gold and green it glided into few and across the heavens blue.

I pulled my car over and got out to watch it (by now I had learned to leave early for work so that I might enjoy the little things like a rolling hill side of golden grass, or circling hawks.) as I sat there I began to notice the soft dancing motion of the trees which I was parked beside, then I noticed the song on the radio. "Kansas City" by Fats Domino.

As I listened I remembered old memories that had been locked away from me. I was 6 years old bright eyed blonde with the whole world before her, all legs and arms and still clinging to some hope of something better. I could see the room as if it where right there in front of me the old hard wood floor of the duplex we lived in on the SW 13Th in the "packing town" area of Oklahoma City.

The white walls scattered with photographs of family the main photo in our house always seemed that of my grandfather Floyd holding my mom age 3 and my grandmother holding my uncle Jessie age 1. The photo had been fading for years.

The tattered mix matched sofa and chairs, the cluttered yet clean mess of a two bedroom duplex home for two adults and four children, in the corner near the front windows the family record player and all the collected albums; Classical, Cultural, Rock and Roll , Country all at your finger tips.

And I saw my father and that little girl within me dancing he was teaching me to do the stroll to Kansas City, I smiled as I saw my smiling face, I heard the the laughter as he taught me to dance. and as I watched the images pass before me I saw another younger self maybe 4 or 5 years old, my small feet on top of his big brown cowboy boots as he danced with me during a waltz to Johann Strauss "Blue Danube".

"Close your eyes and see the music, feel it and let it move through you." he had told me several times through out my life when we danced or listened to music.

I later learned to dance to many types of music polka, the twist, Texas two step, and many more.
I learned to see the music, to feel it, to breath it in and to let it flow through me. In my waking mind music became vision, motion and emotion. Taking on form, color and expression. I learned to see the music as I would see colors and words later. It was a great gift to give a child.

That summer day, I wept for my father for the first time. The first good memory of a blocked 12 year childhood burst into view, into color and into music.

My father passed away 11 years ago unforgiven, unspoken to and unthanked for the gift he gave me, but that day I think I finally found that I could forgive him. I cant block out the bad with out blocking out the good. I have to be fair there were good moments and people in those 12 years that are worth remembering. Its not always easy to face the shadows but I have learned there is always a light at both ends of the corridor that leads through the shadows.

Forgetting is hard, forgiving is harder, and even more so when you have to forgive yourself. Don't hold on to the old patterns that will make you a prisoner of your own mind, its not easy by any means but you deserve to bask in the brilliance of the light within yourself and to see the world again with hope where the blue of the sky meets the sun.

Thanks Daddy for giving me this beautiful gift of seeing music.

Welcome Home Hearth

BENDITHION A CARA A CHYNEUA CHOFLEIDIA 'CH
(BLESSINGS OF LOVE AND LIGHT EMBRACE YOU)

Imagine a room and in the heart of this great room a fire burns in the hearth, the room is neither hot or cold but just right. The fire burns warm, inviting and around this fire are friends, families and among them your place is waiting. They greet you and welcome you home.

You've brought your favorite beverage,you're in your most comfortable attire and you sit back and relax as the conversation flows. Around this fire you can hear from others and be heard, here you can speak and be spoken too on many levels or you can sit n silence. Here we share our daily lives, our joys, our sorrows, our achievements and our losses.

At this fire side you'll experience support, encouragement and understanding. You'll find yourself growing and reaching out to others so different and yet kindred spirits, people you've never seen, you will have known your whole life.

At this fire the topics may not always relate to you, someone may have a healing request, another may announce a birth, a marriage, a death. One may ask for suggestions on help with business, children or life in general.

Around this fire you'll experience laughter,wisdom,peace,hope and love. Some one may have a site to share, a recipe, a song, a dance,a story, a poem, a thought, a dream.

At this fire side you'll find a hand, a shoulder, an ear, a heart, a smile or a word of comfort in a moment of need or want.

At this fire side no matter how often you visit or how little here you're always welcome home; here your place is always waiting no matter where you are or how far you roam, the journey into the waiting arms of those who have come before you and those who will follow you here.

You've made it home. Welcome

May you find the wonders of your life journey even more amazing.
May you you be lifted and guided in the luminous of love and light.
May each day be blessed and lived with the passion of life.

From our hearts to yours the great fire burns int h hearth this is our blessing and wish for you.

Northern Lights Legend Prompted Wish

(Photo was one I loved and downloaded from Wedshots.com)

There are many legends about the northern lights this is one of my favorites;

"As we return through time, we witness the great Flood where everything becomes submerged and finally lost. As the waters gradually recede their tremendous weight throws our planet off its balance and it now tilts to one side, thus causing long dark periods in the North and South.

Not quite all is lost however, for in the North lived a simple and God-fearing race of people, known to us now as the "Mongols", whom the Great Manitou (their name for God) had spared from this great deluge.

When they could no longer see the Sun and feel its warmth, fear came upon them and they prayed to the Great Manitou to save them. In his compassion, the Great Spirit decided to take them to the warm and fertile plains of this Continent and he bade them gather together their families and ’what goods they could carry and trek across the barren North to the "New Land".

Because there was no daylight many became lost and perished within the deep crevices caused by the flood waters.

Again they prayed for help and the Great Manitou devised a plan. Covering the Northern cap of the world with great crystals of ice, some as high as mountains, he was able to capture the rays of the hidden sun and reflect them up into the sky, thus providing light for his people to see by. Onward these stalwart people trekked, and became the forerunners of our many Indian tribes.

The great ice prisms split the sun’s rays into all the beautiful colors of the spectrum and because of this, people for thousands of years have witnessed this wonderful miracle, the Northern Lights!"


We each have an amazing a ray of light within us and the light radiates from within us. We are each but one shard of light.

We are joined by other shards of light, the light of our friends, our families and sometimes just one person that walks with us only for a short way and the brilliance of our lights shine out like the prisms or ice crystals of the north.

This story tells of compassion, guidance, hope, trust and blessings.

My wish for you is that you be blessed with many shards of lights.

May you find them warm and wise in your time of coldness and doubts.

May you find them compassionate and a strength during your walk through life.

May you find them always to be true, to shed light in the darkness lights of hope.

May you be blessed and showered in their brilliance and from this may you shine all the more.

Keeping you in my thoughts, my prayers and my heart.

Gra, Dilseacht, Cairdeas (Love, Loyalty, Friendship)

Compassion

I read Barbara Ascher's essay "On Compassion" I felt this story in many ways in thought and in heart as I recalled how I myself once looked upon transits, beggars and those less fortunate then myself.

But it changed, how I am not really sure. And how better to explain it then to say I evolved beyond who I was. I can feel compassion for others and what is even more important at least to me is I can and do try to help and without expectations of any from of return.

I have even learned to feel compassion for my enemies (these I count as those who take actions against humanity, life and who's intent is to do harm to others or myself).

Mankind has many flaws but two of them I feel contribute to actions against humanity and life are:

1) We choose what we will see. Often choosing to be blind. Be it from fear, ignorance, anger or just because its easier on us.

2) We choose to destroy what we fear, what we don't understand.

When we look at people we see only the outside. Never looking to why or how, never giving thought to what can be done to change and sometimes our compassion is only for display and praise.

We dis value people making them bare our own titles based on their being different in faith, cultures, social standing, ethnic, appearance where they live, how they talk.

We create from this lack of compassion disposable people.

Another Whispering Moment of Life

As part of a essay for English 2 I was was to write about a place or person that has significance. I picked Another Whispering Moment of Life. The Essay is as followed:


It's very hard to choose one place or person that has significance. I managed to narrow it down to two. The first I find when I drive up into the mountains. Here life takes a different view from the one you walked out your front door with. It doesn't demand your attention, it whispers to you.

The narrow, two lane highway, like a great serpent. Climbs its way through the mountains. The car hugging each curve, with the windows down the air moves through the car. The cool touch of it against my face as I extend my hand out the window, I love the feel of the air at my finger tips. It fills me with its energy and freedom. I drive on and its as if I am driving into another world one of peace and ease. Here in this moment life whispers to the heart and soul.

The other is a spot that I have been only once, but I have not been able to find it since. It has a deep significance for me because at the time I was there I was in great need.

A couple summers ago I took a drive alone. It was the summer they found the lumps in my breast. I went through a bit of depression one day. (Everyone tried not to talk about it, I know they were thinking of me, but I needed to talk, never had I felt so scared and angry).

I needed to talk to someone and no one wanted to listen. One day I decided to take a drive. I drove up toward Lake Madrone. I stopped and took a few photos. Standing there staring at the lake I started talking. The Divine always listens. I'm not a religious woman but I am a spiritual being.

I was restless (I get that way a lot in town, but rarely in the wilds) so I started driving up further. I kept talking. I cried and I vented.

As I rove a thought flashed through me: What if I just didn't turn with the road? It would be over no pain, no suffering. That's when I saw the road. It was a little dirt road and for some reason I wanted to drive down that road.

The road was very narrow and rough, but as I drove down it I started watching the trees, how the sunlight filtered through the branches, dancing about blissfully. I stopped the car and pulled as far as I dared to the side and I sat there crying.

I heard the wind int he trees. I love that sound. It's like when you're a child swinging too fast and high and the wind whistles laughingly past your ears and you are soaring with it, laughing with it.

I got out of the car still crying. I sat down on a log and allowed everything to just spill out into that spot. The sound was faint at first and I got silent. It was the sound of water flowing over rocks, faint but I could hear it. I focused on the sound, and I started walking into the woods. The cracking of twigs beneath my feet from the heavy undergrowth echoed into my ears as I worked my way through the trees.

I wouldn't call it a river. It was only knee high and not very wide. Out in the middle were rocks. There was a fair size rock, large and flat. I removed my things and left them on the bank and I waded out to that rock, as if it were my own personal island, my sanctuary, my Avalon.

I laid there watching the sun dancing on the water, shimmering upon the surface, blinding at moments. The water flowed around my feet and legs. I laid back on the rock, my fingers dangling into the water as it flowed around me and through me. I remember at one point thinking "Where did it begin and where would it end?"

I listened to the symphony of sound that was swirling around me. The water as it ventured over the rocky bed and beyond. The sound was soft and fading off into the distance. The wind and the trees sang yet another song.

The twittering of the birds and chatter of the squirrels slowly settled. I felt my heart slowing, my thoughts slowing and moving away like the water and wind. I lay there feeling all the thoughts drift from me, in its troubled place. Peace and a feeling of not being alone was growing in me. There was a sense of silence, a silence that shattered through me like one would shatter glass.

In this moment and this place I had cried, screamed and even healed. The Divine never puts you where you're not ready to be an you're never alone when you're there (I read that once not sure where). I have my daughter Kat, I have amazing friends and have a promise that I will never be in the darkness alone.

I walked back to the bank dressed and returned to my car. I didn't fear anything in that place, and I found a new strength within myself as well as a new view of life. At that moment in time, that special place was where I needed to be.

Life should be intoxicating, indulgent and seductive. It should lure us to the very height of ourselves. It should reflect the heart and soul that burns inside: An Unedited, undiluted and uninhibited expression of who we are.

Whispering moments of Life are about memories,love, friendships, beauty, appreciation and respect for the magic and wonder of life's gifts. Its about finding the gift in each day, in ourselves, in others and in the little things: coffee with a friend, a drive down a country road. Its about seeing things fresh and new.

I always seem to go into the mountains high as I can. Because here life takes a different view, for me this is a place where demands are lifted into clear whisperings. Where I return to the water (the blood of life), I return to the earth (the body of life), where I can feel the air (the breath of life) and reconnect with my soul (the fire of my spirit.)

We each have whispering moments of life, we won't always hear them there at a different pace, a different volume but one day I hope you hear life whisper to you.

Maybe when you're kissing your child goodnight, sitting watching the rain or having that first waken moment.

Power of Words

Well today is one of those days when I feel the deepest, love the strongest and just more aware.

I truely believe we are connected and that we come into each others lives for a reason. We are like this brilliant light, we are each a shard of the same great art work , brilliant in colors, sizes, shapes, faiths and lives all fitting together to make the most beautiful master piece of life.

We are the laughter, we are the sorrows, we are the little voice calling out one anothers names and we are the hand that holds on in lifes storms.

And yet sometimes we don't realize the power of words and the smallest little act.

I love this idea and thought I would pass it on to you with the hope you'll pass it on with a little bit of you attached.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK_VXRp8Sto


Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
Without them, humanity cannot survive.
Whether one believes in a religion or not,
and whether one believes in rebirth of not,
there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.
The Dalai Lama


Enlakesh (Mayan meaning "I am you, we are one in love and service)
Cherry

"I AM"

I Am

In the rustling of the leaves will I whisper to you.
In the dancing of the tall grass and swirl of autumn
leaves will I caress and lift you up.

I Am Air.

In the crackling warmth of the hearth fire will
I bring comfort to you.
In the light of the sun, moon and stars will
I watch over you.

I Am Fire.

In the babbling creek will I laugh with you.
In the flow of the rivers, streams and oceans will
I walk with you.

I Am Water.

From mountain peaks to caverens deep
will I support and provide for you.

I Am Earth.

I Am never ending.
beginning to beginning I pass
from one realm to the next.

I Am Spirit.
cr. CKOrman "I AM" (written in Memory of Tammi)

A Prayer for All

Sometimes the greatest gift we can give to those we love, be they friends or family is the gift of ourselves. And sometimes that same gift of ourselves can and should be shared with others, maybe even a stranger.

I hold all in my prayers, my thoughts and my heart. For All Time.

This is based on an old St Francis Prayer but altered by me:

A Prayer for Guidance

Lady of Love and Light hear my prayers;
Help me to be an instrument of thy wisdom.
In the path of Hatred, Allow me to bring Love
Where there is suffering and injury,
May I bring healing and comfort.
Where there is Doubt,
May I stand in your strength a beacon of Faith, Hope and Courage.
Where there is Darkness,
May I be a hand of Light.
Mother of Unconditional Love,
May I be Compassionate,
even to those who would wish me harm me.
May I be Understanding,
even to those who would misunderstand me.
May I be Love, to those who would hate me.
I See You in All things.
May I always be a haven for my brothers and sisters,
for the weak and ill,
the lost and the tired.
All life is your gift and precious
may I protect and honor your gift
and may the light shine out from me
Through my deeds may I share your wisdom,
your love and your beauty.
In your Love and Light may I serve you well.
As Above So Below.

Do you hear me whispering?

DO YOU HEAR ME WHISPERING?
POEM BY CKORMAN

When the world is rushing by
and it's sort of like trying to
cross a highway on foot.

Do you hear me whispering?
Do you feel me there?

When your alone or lost in
a crowd of one.

Do you hear me whispering?
Do you feel me there?

When the night is silent and in
the stillness of the dark, if you
feel afraid, if you feel in doubt.

Do you here me whispering?
Do you feel me there?

When you hear the simple
speaking of your name.

When you feel the touch that
sooths you in the silence, or the
embrace that hold you through
out your day.

You can hear me whispering.
You can feel me there.
I am with you.

Just one of those whispering moments......A note in your pocket

To the flowers of my heart: My Friends

I have been watching in recent weeks the Maple trees across the way drift into the most beautiful shades of orange and red, behind them the tall slender beauty of the towering Aspen their leaves changing from green to gold in recents days.

And the great Oak out front also begins to drift into sweet slumbering of winter as the leaves change and drift in spirals and swirls to blanket the Earth.

The rains have come to the valley at last the soft gray skies are embracing the day. I stood in the yard this morning as I left for work and welcomed the soft kiss of rain drops on my face, breathed in the cool refreshing smell of rain in the trees and on the ground. My spirit dancing in the pure beauty and magic of it.

My spirit and heart are out dancing shoeless and lightly clothed somewhere off in the beautiful wilderness and content to be playing with raindrops, falling leaves, rolling clouds and whispering winds.

Spiral dancing with life. Isn’t life just amazing. I want to send and write a Blessing for you just something I like to do. Everything with my own little twist and flare, it’s sort of like those little notes you leave in the pockets of someone you care for during the day they stick their hand in their pocket and find this little note something simple usually like “I’m thinking of you”, “You’re my best friend”, there are a few others but those are (sh-sh) more private. But they make you smile or just laugh out loud and feel good all over.

Your virtual note in your pocket.
There is a chant that goes:

Earth my Body
Water my Blood
Air my Breath
Fire my Spirit

Using this for the bases here is the Blessing:

With the Earth’s strength and foundation for life,may you stand always strong of heart,mind, body andsoul.

With the Water’s flow of motions and actions,may you move through life even in the rushing androckiest of times safe, happy and wisely.

With Air’s breath of life, may your soul be Eternally filledand may you always hear the song of your heart, soul and theworld and may it always dance with in you.

With the Fire of your Spirit may you always be true to who you are, free and open to the magic and beauty of life and your blessed place in it.

Love and Light Embrace You

DON’T FORGET TO DANCE……. TO LIVE!!!!!!!!!

On the day we’re born two amazingly beautiful and magical things happen.

The first being that our amazing little soul has come into this world with it comes hope, love, wisdom, patience and promise and possablity.

And the second is that we have accepted Life’s offer to have this dance for
rest of our lives. Each swirling splendor of motion from the smallest second to the grandest moment we have ever experienced. It’s an echo of our soul’s dance.

And through the years we dance fast and slow, we dance in darkness and in light. But we dance. And as we get older sometimes the tune may get a bit off beat, this is when we have to listen a little more carefully to the tune.

Life wants you to lead (Take control) so don’t be afraid, because it won’t take terms and it won’t wait on you. The expectations we set for ourselves are the hardest to achieve but the grandest to meet, if we don’t turn those expecations into limitations that bind us.

So the next time you feel life tap you on the shoulder; Stand on your head, jump in a pile of leaves, spin around in the night and then lay on the earth and watch the night sky spiral back into balance, call a friend (heck call a stranger) and say "Hi", "I Love You", "I’m thinking of you.", hug a tree, a person, a pet. Just don’t think about it. Feel it. Let it feel you and let it fill you up.

Life is color and sound in motion, listen to the music of your deepest heart and soul and dance. Bring that inner magic and dance into your daily routine and watch life respond.

You set the beat ( thoughts, play and desires, ect.), you make the steps (motions and actions), you write the music (past, present and future) and trust me life will radiate with you.

So no matter how old you are, where you are, who you are or even who you’re with. Don’t forget to Dance……To Live!!!!!!!!