Samsara Poem
(Original Site I published the poem on)
Bring me your horizon
Let me melt into the sky
To sparkle like the sunshine
And disappear into the night
To be an echoed call
Of the morning Wren
to be a light feather
Drifting into the wind
Don’t think
Don’t feel
Just Flow
Thoughts of a Dying Tree – Poem
(Image Source) (My original post with this poem)
Together we were connected.
But now I am emaciated
A community truncated
A lifeform regulated
A being amputated
Use Deprecated
Life I protected
Now neglected
Use selected
Architected
Isolated
Maimed
Claimed
Tamed
Used
Me
I
Tolkien, Romanticism and Norse Mythology
Two days ago, Tolkien fans toasted the legendary author on what would have been his 125th birthday. J.R.R. Tolkien in some ways is a mysterious person. He was a devout Roman Catholic with a strong interest in Norse Mythology. And it was his writing that took the Norse mythology that he studied and loved, and created an entire literary genre around it.
THE NORSE INFLUENCE
During Tolkien’s education at King Edward’s School in Birmingham, the then young Tolkien read and translated from the Old Norse on his own time. One of his first Nordic purchases was the Völsunga saga ( a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan). Both the Volsunga Saga and the Nibelungenlied were texts that had roughly the same date and origin. And both of these provided some of the basis for Richard Wagner’s opera series, Der Ring des Nibelungen, featuring in particular a magical golden ring and a broken sword reforged. In the Völsungasaga, these items are respectively Andvarinaut and Gram, and they correspond broadly to the One Ring and the sword Narsil (reforged as Andúril).
So hmmm…Tolkien was inspired by a story about a magical ring, that sounds kind of familiar…
THE ROMANTIC INFLUENCE
One important thing to understand about Tolkien is that he had an intense hatred of industrialization, which he considered to be devouring the English countryside. And much of the forces of evil in Lord of The Rings can be analogous to the forces of industrialization both Tolkien’s time, as well as our time today.
What is interesting to note, is that in the late 19th century and early 20th century there was a movement of “neo-romanticism.” The romanticism of the late 18th century had a strong emphasis on emotion, and the glory of the past and nature, as well as an intense disdain for industrialization. So neo-romanticism was a reinvention of that in later times.
(Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818)
In the Romantic as well as Neo-Romantic movements, there was a romanticized ideal of the past as a time when people were more noble and heroic. Many of these themes are obvious in Wagner’s extraordinary operas (for instance, Flight of the Valkyries). Afterall, as mentioned above, Wagner wrote a certain opera about a certain magical ring and the curse of material greed (very familiar sounding).
Of course, Wagner had very controversial associations, given his anti-semitic ideas, and the Nazis’ love for Wagner. So if Tolkien was inspired by Wagner, he certainly wasn’t going to go around saying so. Especially not after World War II.
But in Tolkien’s work, he did manage to express a sort of Romantic yearning for the glory of the past, as well as a contempt for the power and forces of greed in modern times. The Lord of the Rings Films are also like a work of Romantic art, in Peter Jackson’s emphasis on large, powerful landscapes in which man is only a tiny, and small wanderer lost in the power of nature.
(Landscape from The Hobbit Trailer)
(Here’s a piece of romantic landscape art in comparison. Albert Bierstadt’s Storm in the Rocky Mountains, 1866)
ELVES AND DWARFS
In continuation with the discussion about Tolkien’s norse influences, there are the elves and dwarfs in his story. They’re not something he just made up. They were based on Norse and Germanic mythology. The Prose Edda and the Elder or Poetic Edda contain descriptions of elves and dwarfs.
In Germanic mythology, dwarfs are short, humanoids who dwell in mountains and in the Earth. They are associated with wisdom, smithing, mining and crafting. Dwarfs are also described as short and ugly.
(Here’s a dwarf!)
In terms of elves, there are the Dökkálfar (Old Norse “Dark Elves”, singular Dökkálfr) and Ljósálfar (Old Norse “Light Elves”, singular Ljósálfr). The Dark Elves dwell in the Earth and are swarthy. While the Light Elves live in Álfheimr (one of the nine Norse worlds) and are fairer than the sun to look at.
(Here’s an elf!)
GANDALF THE GREY
The figure of Gandalf the Grey is also influenced by the Norse deity Odin, who was described as a wanderer, an old man with one eye, a wide-brimmed hat and a long beard. In a letter of 1946, nearly a decade after the character was invented, Tolkien wrote that he thought of Gandalf as an “Odinic wanderer (Carpenter 1981, #181)”. Much like Odin, Gandalf promotes justice, knowledge, truth, and insight.
(Gandalf fan art)
OTHER INFLUENCES
However, Norse myth wasn’t the only cultural influence. Tolkien’s work was also influenced by Old and Middle English, he based the Elvish language on Finnish, Greek mythology (in terms of the island Numenor being an allusion to Atlantis), Celtic influence in terms of the exile of the Noldorin elves and the parallels of that with the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann, and Arthurian Legend .
Tolkien was also influenced by his own Christian religion as well. The biblical narrative about the fall of man influenced The Silmarillion (in terms of the fall of the elves).
POETIC WRITINGS
The poem below is from The Fellowship of the Ring. I think it definitely shows the Romantic influences in Tolkien’s work. I.E. the yearning for ancient ways. The contempt for greed.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
Also read: “I Sit Beside the Fire and Think“
RELATED LINKS
Tolkien’s grandson on how WW1 inspired The Lord of the Rings (BBC, 1-3-17)
J. R. R. Tolkien Fans Are Toasting the Lord of the Rings Author on His 125th Birthday (TIME, 1-3-17)
I Sit Beside the Fire and Think – Tolkien
I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door
I Sit Beside the Fire and Think is a song by Bilbo Baggins, which he sang softly in Rivendell on 24 December T.A. 3018, the evening before the Fellowship of the Ring set out upon their quest. Bilbo sang the song in the presence of Frodo, after giving Frodo the mithril-coat and Sting. The song is a contemplative piece, sung by a now-aging hobbit recalling past events that ends in anticipation of hearing returning friends.
But could it also have another meaning? A longing for the return of ancient ways? For the return of the spring after a long and cold winter?
Source for poem: Tolkien Gateway
Aztec War Poetry
The following “Song-Poems” are taken from the Cantares Mexicanos, a late 16th-century collection transcribed by a Franciscan monk, Bernardino de Sahagún – of Náhuatl-language (Aztec) poetry known as “flower and song” (” xóchitl in cuícatl “): stylized, symbolic poem forms composed and performed by nobles – including kings. These song-poems were believed to be carriers of sacred ritual energy. (Original Source: “War is Like a Flower“)
To the God of War: Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli, the Warrior,
He who acts on high
Follows his own path.
Oh marvellous dweller among clouds,
Oh dweller in the region of the frozen wings.
He causes the walls of fire to fall down
Where the feathers are gathered.
Thus he wages war
And subdues the Peoples.
Eager for war, the Flaming One descends,
He rages where the whirling dust arises.
Come to our aid !
There is War, there is burning.
Those Pipitlan are our enemies…
Explanation of Terms:
Huitzilopochtli: Aztec god of War, from the Náhuatl words for
“hummingbird of the left-side/south-side” – the hummingbird being
known for its aggression, daring, and persistence
Pipitlan: a people to the south of Tenochtitlan (capital of the
Aztec Empire, site of present-day Mexico City)
Heart, have no fright.
There on the battlefield
I cannot wait to die
by the blade of sharp obsidian.
Our hearts want nothing but a war death.
You who are in the struggle:
I am anxious for a death
from sharp obsidian.
Our hearts want nothing but a war death.
Sacred crazy flowers,
flowers of bonfires,
our only ornament,
war flowers.
How do they fall? How do they fall?
These hearts, ripe fruit for harvest**.
Look at them,
These fall, the hearts — oh our arrows
These fall, the hearts — oh our arrows.
Explanation of Terms: **These hearts, ripe fruit for harvest – a reference to the
human hearts that must be offered to Tonatiuh – the Sun god –
to ensure he will make his daily journey across the sky;
Tlaloc, the Rain god, also required human hearts – and
Waging War was the surest method to get them…)
Where are you going? Where are you going?
To war, to the sacred water.
There our mother, Flying Obsidian,
dyes men, on the battlefield.
The dust rises
on the pool of flame,
the heart of the god of sun is wounded.
Oh Mactlacueye, oh Macuil Malinalli!
War is like a flower.
You are going to hold it in your hands.
Explanation of Terms: Mactlacueye – volcano north of the present-day city of Puebla;
locally known as La Malinche
Macuil Malinalli – a friend of Aztec King Nezahualpilli (1465-1515)
Imbolc – A Time of Renewal
May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell
Bless every fireside, every wall and door
Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof
Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy
Bless every foot that walks it’s portals through
May Brigid bless the house that shelters you.
Many of us modern folk may think of the Spring Equinox on March 21st as the first day of Spring. But back in ancient Ireland, it was actually around January 31st. It was the day that marked the waning of winter and the coming of longer days. A time when the snow started melting, the animals began coming out of hibernation and birds started singing. A day in between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
The term ‘Imbolc’ derives from Old Irish and means “in the belly,” or alternately “ewe’s milk,” pointing to the the time when the first lambs were born, associated with a celebration of fertility, reproduction and the young.
This is a day connected with the Celtic goddess Brigid, and Imbolc is one of the few contemporary Pagan holidays that is connected completely and solely to a Goddess. Brigid is the goddess of creativity, warfare, healing, fertility and the hearth.
In Christian times, the goddess Brigid was transformed to a Saint. Saint Brigid is still a pretty big deal in Ireland today. The second most popular saint after Saint Patrick. It is believed that Saint Brigid could perform miracles, such as healing the sick. She also acted a bridge between Christianity and Paganism. Even Brigid’s cross is both a reference to both Jesus and the Celtic sun wheel. So as a bridge between two religions, she is a fitting symbol of the threshold between winter and spring.
A good way to celebrate this holiday is by doing some spring cleaning. Getting rid of the old and preparing your home for the new season to come.
Since Brigid is a goddess of creativity, another good way to celebrate is by trying your hand at writing a poem, maybe even writing a song or doing some other creative project.
Most importantly, this is a time of renewal. Do you have any new projects you’d like to start? Or old ones that you need to finish? Is there something you’ve been wanting to do, but haven’t gotten around to doing it yet? Or any old habits that need to thaw out and melt away like the winter snow? This may be the time, and the strength of Brigid will help guide you through.
THEY AWOKE TO THE SCENT OF SPRING
(I know I shared this song before, but it’s a good one for the occasion)
LINKS
Brighid – Goddess and Saint – Lady of Transitions and Inbetweens (Metal-Gaia)
Lady of The Flame (Metal-Gaia)
How to celebrate Imbolc (Pagan Wiccan)
The Right and Wrong of Imbolc (Patheos)
Imbolc 2016: Facts, Dates, Traditions And Rituals To Know (Huffington Post)
Pagans Celebrate Coming of Spring with Imbolc Festival (World Religion News)
Imbolc Poem (The Fellowship of The King)
Prayer To The Allfather
Learn more about Odin from the links below:
Time and Eternity – Emily Dickinson
“DEPARTED to the judgment,
A mighty afternoon;
Great clouds like ushers leaning,
Creation looking on.
The flesh surrendered, cancelled,
The bodiless begun;
Two worlds, like audiences, disperse
And leave the soul alone.”
“Departed to The Judgement”- Emily Dickinson
Prayer to Cernunnos
I sing this prayer to the Old One
To the Lord of the Hunt
To the wild, dancing, mischievous masculine.
To the soul guide and path finder.
Cernunnos
Lead my arrow true
Fill me with virility
That I may stand strong and proud
Travel far and sleep well
Ride hard, sing loud
And drink deep of all that is set before me.
(Editorial Note: I did not write this prayer. I found it on the internet. I don’t know who the original author is, or else I would give them credit. I also took out one line, because it created a conflict between Wiccans and Celtic Pagans.)
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
“A Dream Within A Dream” Poem – Edgar Allen Poe (1850)
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Happy Imbolc!
Happy Imbolc all! Of the eight festivals on the Pagan wheel of the year, Imbolc is by far my favorite. It may not offer the best weather, but the meaning to me is the most important. While it is a liminal time between winter and spring, as a Gaelic festival it is considered the first day of Spring. It is the time when the snow begins to melt, the animals begin to come out of hiding, and the very first signs of Spring begin to manifest. Traditionally it was a time to visit wells and to light a candle to represent the returning warmth of the sun.
Imbolc is strongly represented by the Gaelic Goddess Brighid (along with St. Brigid). Brighid is a Goddess of healing, inspiration and warfare. She is a Goddess of in-betweens. St. Brigid the person also played a transitory role. She represents a bridge between the Gaelic polytheist traditions and Catholicism. She was canonized and holds a special position in the fabric of Irish Catholicism. Perhaps the Goddess Brigid was so powerful among the Irish – even the Christian Irish – that they decided to make her into a saint and weave many of their ancient Imbolc traditions within the fold of Christianity. In this post I will include an Imbolc Prayer written by Gangleri’s Grove along with some helpful resources about the day.
Imbolc Prayer to Brighid
Exalted One, Fiery Arrow,
Who teases beauty
from the burning flame,
Hear our prayers.
Mighty Healer,
Ever-honored,
Giver of sacred waters,
We praise You.
Hammer Wielder,
most-skilled Smith,
We exalt Your name
with our creative endeavors.
Friend of women,
Who blesses birthing
and comforts the dying,
We offer adorations unto You.
Goddess of inspired speech,
Master Wordsmith,
Bard of Bards,
Poet of Poets,
We celebrate You in our rites.
Sovereign Mother
of the Greenest of lands,
Who protects Your people,
bestowing blessings,
We hail You.
RELEVANT READING:
Brighid – Goddess and Saint – Lady of Transitions and Inbetweens (Metal-Gaia)
How to celebrate Imbolc (Pagan Wiccan)
Poetry for the Returning Sun
We are currently in the middle of winter (those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) and we are just days away from Imbolc, the time when the first signs of spring begin to appear in nature.
Sing to the Waters (Poem)
SING TO THE WATERS
~ By my friend Ryk Hall
Sing to the waters
The healing songs of old
Sing to the waters
And the living spirit in its soul
Sing to the waters
Held by earth and sky
Sing to the waters
Within and without, and above and below
Sing to the waters
Blessings of clouds and rain and snow
Sing to the waters
Of murmurs in the streams and whispers over falls
Sing to the waters
For in the end this drop that I am melds back into the Oceans of Spirit
Sing to the Waters
Of Life and Peace
Nature Remains ~ Walt Whitman
After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on – have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear – what remains? Nature remains. ~ Walt Whitman
Samhain Poem – Primeval Masks
Enter that doorway to the nether-realm, my face with a mask concealed
The crisp leaves crunch churning under my steps upon a path not yet revealed
The air hangs heavy with looming spirits, roaming gusts of electric static
The dead and gone are not forever forlorn on this night of fear and magic
The fabric to that other world becomes a silken shimmer
Velvet walls in Death’s dark hall are far more than tale and glimmer.
By dawning this mask I may seem to hide my Earthly mortal vissage
Yet my inner beast now shines more true, my primeval power manifested
Embrace The Power Within
Stronger than any army is the person who wields the power which resides within themselves!
Lughnasadh Poem
Lughnasadh Poem
Between the peaks of the sun’s golden height
To the browning leaves and fading light
Lies the thresh hold between the summer and autumn
A day to harvest the fruits from Nature’s bosom
A day to reap what you’ve sewn
A day to eat what you’ve grown
The taste of our labors sweet on our lips
And heavy baskets on our hips
Lugh the shining one stands bright and tall
His long arm extended, his hand grasps all
But now he sits in the shade of his mother
Ending one season, bringing in another
I give thanks for the fruits of light and reason
And hope for yet another successful season
Burying my dreams within the fertile earth
And awaiting our mother’s next healthy birth
LINKS
Happy Lammas, Lughnasadh, Frefaxi all!
Powerful Words from the New Orleans Poet, Sunni Patterson
“Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere”
A great note to end the week with, some spiritual brilliance from this internationally known New Orleans poet.
According to her bio, Sunni’s mission is to aid in the awakening, the revival, and the remembrance of our gifts and voices, enabling us to move to a greater space of self empowerment, creativity and actualization.
I noticed the African words in the middle of the poem are names of the West African, Yoruba Gods. I think it’s interesting that she chose to put them in the middle of the poem deliberately. On my blog you can also read more about Yoruba or the Gods of Yoruba.
SUNNI PATTERSON’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
TEXT OF POEM:
We have not always found comfort in killers.
We have not always found solace being rocked
in the bosoms of those who silently pray
and openly destroy.
No, not always have we mistaken mimicry for mastery
or pretending for knowing
or enslavement for freedom.
But across my memory —-
across my memory marches millions -—
bold, regal, resilient, confident —-
unshackled feet stumping up spirits
to guide us through this fickle material world.
We like sun and moon folk,
universal souls praying our prayers,
singing our songs.
Eshu, Ogoun, Shango, Yemaja, Oshun, Obatala, Oya,
Damballah, Ayida Wedo, Loa, Nkongo, Olodumare and Yami.
We know all of you by name.
We are people of beginnings, of culture, of strength.
Not always have we given into the empty threats
and scare tactics of the powerless ones.
Not always have we allowed the blood of our sons and daughters
to color the streets while we’re walking asleep,
marching to the beat of that siren song.
They’re still wearing their sheets,
with nooses in reach,
showing their teeth and smiling, it seems.
But I hear in the breeze
in the rustle of the trees
and the dangling of the feet,
they say, please, don’t let them ever forget.
You see, not always have we suffered from amnesia.
Not always have we forgotten how to conjure up spirits,
ancestor wisdom,
fix up a mixture,
spiritual elixir,
ancient traditions.
We, like magicians,
god-like vision, we -—
we are people of sight.
So, no, not always have we fallen
for this okie doke
or inhaled the hazardous smoke of the manipulators
or been satisfied with crumbs for meals
our hands have prepared.
Hughes said life for us ain’t been no crystal stair,
but at least the steps are there
to push us up higher,
teach us how to go beyond the destroyer’s disguises,
look them in the eyes and be able to see.
Because what’s surprising when you know the nature of a beast
and especially when they’ve shown the same face for centuries?
So you tell me,
what’s the difference between two sisters in New Orleans
shot point-blank in the back of the head,
and two women bound in their car in Baghdad?
Or government-sanctioned killings in Kenya,
and a sister held hostage in a house in Virginia?
Or poverty in Haiti, poverty in Jamaica,
rape in Rwanda or rape in Somalia?
A sweatshop in China or one in Guatemala?
Or small pox and blankets, syphilis and Tuskegee,
formaldehyde and FEMA, ethnic cleansing and Katrina?
I recall within a speech Dr. King made us aware,
he said injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
So they can spare us their drama, huh?
We got the heart of them field working mamas.
We carry the torch of that ancestor fire.
So with every fiber that flutters in our being,
with every find that comes from our seeking,
with every hearing that comes from our listening,
and every sight that comes from our seeing,
we must be faithful, strategic, victorious and free.
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
~ Lord of the Rings
Happy Beltane (May Day) Poem
Between the twilight of spring and summer
The hunter has come for the may queen
In fields of gold and beds of flower
He plows her land, so fertile and green
Erect the may pole
So we may dance
The hunter has come, God is here!
His crown the golden disk of sun
Reigning in summer yet another year.
ABOUT BELTANE (MAY DAY)
Happy Beltane, May Day and Walburg to all! Today is a festival of fertility. It is the liminal transition from spring to summer. There is some debate about the meaning of the word “Beltane” itself, some scholars believe it is a reference to the Celtic God “Bel” and “taine” which means fire. So literally the word means “Bel’s Fire.” In Pagan times, Beltane Fires were lit to encourage the sun’s warmth. It is likely that Bel himself was a fire deity, a patron of the flame and the sun’s restorative powers. On Beltane Eve all fires were extinguished and then lit again on Beltane day. The fire celebrated the return of life and the fruitfulness of the Earth. It was believed that these fires could heal, protect and purify anyone who jumped over their flames.
This is a day when the light half of the year is waxing and everything is growing and blooming. It is the last of the Spring Fertility festivals and a time to prepare for the warmer months ahead. The May Queen as well as the Roman Goddess Flora were ways to represent the Divine Feminine aspect of this day. The Divine Masculine emerges as The May King or “Jack in the Green.” This tradition was celebrated throughout Europe (even through Christian times until the Puritans tried to stop it.) Many towns and villages would erect a May Pole and dance around it with ribbons. The pole has an obvious phallic imagery (the potent sexual God) and the ribbons are said to represent the Goddess, who is wrapping herself around this phallus. Many people say that Beltane or May Day represents the Divine Marriage between “The God and Goddess.” While ancient Pagan people had more than just one God and Goddess, perhaps this modern reinterpretation means that it is a marriage between the masculine and feminine aspects of life.
This day is traditionally celebrated with dancing around the May Pole, jumping over bonfires, mating, sword dances, archery, feasting, drinking, music and other types of fun debauchery.
If you would like to know more about May Day/Beltane, check out the links below:
LINKS
Happy Beltane, Let’s Talk About Sex! (Metal Gaia)
All About Beltane (Pagan Wiccan)
Blessed Beltane (Two Pagans)
Belenos (Celtic Net)
Walburg (The Asatru Community)
Rumi – Poem of the Atoms
O’ day, arise!
Shine your light, the atoms are dancing.
Thanks to Him the universe is dancing.
overcome with ecstasy,
Free from body and mind
I’ll whisper in your ear where their dance is leading them.
All the atoms in the air and in the desert are dancing,
puzzled and drunken to the ray of light,
they seem insane.
All these atoms are not so different than we are,
happy or miserable,
perplexed and bewildered,
we are all beings in the ray of light from the beloved,
nothing can be said.
Rumi is a 13th century, Persian poet and considered a Sufi Saint by many. While Rumi was an Islamic poet, his poetry has a transcendent appeal among various cultures world wide. His poems contain a deep theme of creative love and the urge to rejoin the spirit to the divine. He believed that this was the goal of every living thing that moved, human, animal or mineral.
Not only is the poem above exquisitely beautiful in terms of rhyme scheme, but it has a deep scientific and spiritual significance when you really think about it.
Let’s take this concept of atoms dancing in the light of the divine.
While the “atom” itself wasn’t physically discovered until the 19th century, early Greek and Indian philosophers had an idea of an atom as an indivisible particle that was the smallest unit of matter. “The Poem of Atoms” captures the idea of every living thing, even the smallest pieces of matter, are participating in a universal dance in the light of the divine.
Today scientists know that sub-atomic particles rotate around a nucleus, planets rotate around stars, stars circle around galaxies and that life occurs in cycles. Everything from the infinitely small to the infinitely large is participating in an orbit – a form of cosmic dance with no clear beginning or end.
The next key piece of imagery here is divine light: “We are all beings in the ray of light from the beloved.” Light is necessary for life. Without the light of the sun, none of us would be here. Light has a variety of meanings in poetry, it could be the light of the sun, the light of knowledge, illumination, or the Divine itself.
The last significant verse I’ll mention is the following: “All these atoms are not so different than we are.”
All life is made up of the same particles. You and I are made up of the hydrogen and helium of the stars that formed this galaxy billions of years ago. All life forms are made up of the same atoms, the same particles and the same star stuff.
When we die, our bodies may decompose and our memories may fade, but the atoms and particles that make up our being will rejoin the universe in the endless, ecstatic dance of life.
Happy Ostara – With Poem
The Vernal Goddess treads a land of melting snow
in a gown of green, sunlight twined in golden hair
She escorts Old Man Winter beneath the horizon
Laying him down to slumber, until the following year
Birds as troubadours sing in the spring
Burying white treasures in castles of twig and vine
All Hail Lady Spring in her procession
All Hail The Maidan, Radiant and Divine!
Happy Ostara All! Today is officially the first day of Spring. The Spring Equinox is the day when the sun passes over the celestial equator. Today is a day that celebrates the season’s change from the darkness of winter to the light of Spring, as well as the land’s new fertility. After the Snowpocalypse that has pummeled the American East Coast this year, I am certainly grateful for Spring.
PaganWiccanAbout.com has some information on Ostara crafts, deities, food, altars and rituals
Enjoy the following Ostara song below. I know I posted it last year, but hey – it’s good enough to post a second time! Three cheers for spring! Three cheers for new beginnings!
Metal Gaia 
