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They were bought, both of them, a few years ago in a dollar store. I’ve always liked gargoyles. They gave me comfort as a little girl walking around the streets of Paris with my nanny when mom was singing. They peered down at me from the walls of the great churches with a knowing smile. I was told they kept bad spirits away from the innocent, and children were their first priority.
Every new town or city I looked for them, finding even one gargoyle made me feel instantly at ease in any city. Gargoyles were different everywhere. Some had great wings, some little bony wings and others had no wings at all. Some smiled, some had intense peering eyes…
for the rest: A Garden of Whimsy http://www.afinemes.com/wpress/2007/04/19/a-garden-of-whimsy/
am I on a roll?
Stories She Told
Lilly lay back gratefully on the fresh linen sheets. It was one of her very favourite smells. From the time the sheets were on her crib, hand-washed by her mother, to presents, on sheets washed by machine, now by her daughter. Audrey, her daughter, propped her now fragile mother onto the softest of pillows. Gently she braided the elder woman’s white hair into a single braid and fastened it with a sift pink elastic.
…the rest: http://afinemes.com/wpress/2007/03/03/stories-she-told/
Kiyan’s presence in the village was known by all, but noticed or not according to the needs of the persons mingled there – such being the way of a Gusari. Those that had need to see him did, and those focused on their own tasks and intend did not. Thusly, he had a chance to observe three children out of step with contentment – a problem in the making of the sort that called out to him. The three lads were destined by lineage, ability and training to be leaders of the community, such being the way of the village. Yet these three were bent on discord; pairing off in exclusion of the third on any task, or acting alone when a team effort might allow of ease and facility. They must be offered an opportunity to choose a different path – to find a better balance ‘tween will and folly – such being the challenge of all men.
Each afternoon when shadows were half-tall, while women were attending small children and men preparing for nightfall, the Gusari would embrace the gaggle of youths drawn to play and craft. This day Kiyan had each bring a number of small stones to a gathering by a Linden tree. There he showed how to mix the sap of a special bush with soot to form a permanent ink. A shaved raven quill then served to paint on each stone a symbol selected by the child of giving such that each was unique. He added dots for decoration, but also that he might know the identity of the child in secret code. Some were totems, some were objects in nature and others were of imagination, yet all touched on the spirit of the child – such being the way of divination.
The Casting Stones were hidden in a pouch formed of a gathered cloak. The youngest girl reached in and selected three Casters for those who might be ‘volunteers’ for a Sounding. By chance, it seems, these three were quickly identified as belonging to the three lads, who came forth to the cheers of the others, for they were popular if naught else. It was but a game of course, as those not yet matured by ‘right of passage’ could not participate in serious ‘soothing’ – they had not the experience of knowing and value upon which a Sounding could be based. Everyone knew that the only way to influence one’s future was to change perceptions of the past. Yet, all can learn from games as well as the hunt and chore and example and crone lesson – such is the way of children. So it began.
Each by each in turn, the Gusari performed a Sounding for the three, mixed with some juggling and simple slight-of-hand effects with the stones – always with mirth and pretended clumsiness. The lad of the moment selected nine Casters from the pouch – these to shake together and toss upon a grass mat. There they grouped in patterns and relationships of purport known only to Kiyan, though all could see the symbols on face-up stones, and giggle when the hidden ones were turned over – anticipation and guessing having their role to play. Of these the Gusari wove a story for the ‘seeker’, making no presentaments nor identifying the child linked with each Caster. And I need not bore you with particulars, but only the weaving of perceptions that fell like rain upon the lads of choosing.
Each came to know how important it was to rise above the differences that separated them from the others, and to understand the value of working together for the needs of the community. The Soundings were resplendent with phrases like, “when you are lonely you should seek the nest of an eagle,” that being the totem of one of the other boys; or “when you feel upset with another’s actions, cleans yourself in bright waters,” a waterfall being a symbol created by the other youth. Other children were involved also, none realizing that the Gusari knew the ownership of each stone and could draw upon observed attributes and reactions to enhance the ‘magic’ of the Soundings. Each child could draw from the stories that which made sense to them alone while wondering at why their friends seemed to laugh in strange places. Three Soundings, three stories – three blendings of earth and heart and mind and spirit from which the three boys might choose a different path – a chance to grow, never a command. Such is the way of the teacher.
Kiyan knew he would not pass this way again for many years, and might never know of the choices made as these three became men and leaders. For but a moment did his shadow cross theirs. That the game would have an impact on their thoughts he had no doubt. That his future was also bound by the choice to engage the three boys in the process of ‘attention and retention’ was also embraced – such being the way of knowing …
such being the way of faith.
faucon (sent by Trigor)
some of the elders in a circle of love and support around Heather and Darryl
by Traveller
As she left Jean Frool wrote
I am leaving
on a jet plan
don’t know
if I will ever be back again
and, true to her word, Jean stepped through the door
and came to Lemuria and the Isle of the Temple People.
She was amazed
to be accepted in Lemuria as Jean Frool
who never drank excessively
smoked or had a red light above her door.
No one minded that, to purge her responsible self, she sat
for a long while
in her hair curlers, chain smoking and
and told anyone who would listen
of the time
Sir Bob Geldolf came to her
when she was in a psychosis.
“If it had been our Lord
who had visited and not that old Boom Town Rat
they never would have filled me up with mind numbing drugs”
she said sardonically
to those who had not stopped listening
Now Jean Frool is a Lemurian Elder
and is trying to live happily ever after.
She sits dreaming, scheming
hoping that
Sir Bob, that wickedly naughty Boom Town Rat
Will come again and hang
his hat on her hat stand
just one more time.
Anyone got Sir Bob’s email address?
Bridgette Hoatson never knew that it was her destiny to run the Little Red Apple Tearooms on the Island of the Temple People until she came and found the cottage in the apple orchard. Her tearooms are a favourite meeting place for travellers who stop to chat about books and tell stories of their Lemurian Adventures in her Tea House. But, of course, she also offers classic apple cider and plenty of apple pie.
Make sure to check out all the Elders. There is quite a gathering, just waiting to have their stories told.
I want to pay homage to those who have been here before
I want to remember that a name and a title doesn’t mean that I stop growing
I want to ask those who came before
To guide me on my life journey
And help to keep me humble
To teach me all that they’ve learned
How to help those around me
How to keep going when things get rough
And most of all how to gain wisdom enough
To pass on to my children
Who will one day be Elders too
by Stacey-Ann
When Heather first set up the Elder’s cave, there was some discussion about what we called ourselves. I had suggested Elder Flowers and had long wanted to make a pictorial represention of the flowers, including Faucon. I have a large collection of used postage stamps and when I found I had nearly as many stamps from this particular series as there were Elders, I knew what I would do with them. Finding just the right bouquet, however, has taken me ages. So here is my offering of a bouquet of Elder flowers. The women featured on the stamps, from very different backgrounds and for very different reasons, became famous for their contributions to Germany’s history. We all come from various backgrounds and, maybe, will contribute our bit to the art of team blogging and the creation of a community spirit.
Women in German history (Frauen der deutsche Geschichte) is a definitive stamp series issued in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin from 1986 to 1990, and in reunited Germany since 1990.
Paula Modersohn-Becker – 1876-1907 early expressionism artist and friend of Rainer Marie Rilke
Clara Schumann – wife of composer Robert Schumann, gifted pianist and composer in her own right
Therese Giehse – realized her passion for the theatre and acting at an early age. Though her family tried to change her mind about the theater she made her way to the stage anyway. She had a very intense friendship with the famous German writer Thomas Mann and his children Erika and Klaus. Klaus later dedicated his novel “Mephisto”, which was a portrait of actor Gustav Gruendgens, to her. She also found a good friend in the writer Bertolt Brecht – she was the first actress to play his “Mother Courage”. She was Jewish and decided to leave Germany when Hitler came to power, although it is known that he greatly appreciated her acting. In her exile in Switzerland she founded a kind of cabaret with Erika Mann. After the war she returned to Germany and began a new career in films.
Cilly Aussem – German female tennis player
Hannah Arendt – German political theorist
Fanny Hensel – German pianist and composer and sister of Felix Mendelssohn
Luise Henriette van Oranien – Princess Luise Henriette von Oranien (1627–1667) experimented in Brandenburg in the fields of potato breeding, animal husbandry and horticulture .
Emma Ihrer – 1857-1911 born in Glatz in 1857 and grew up in a middle-class, religious environment. At the age of 24, she went to Berlin and was affiliated with the Socialists and the Labor Unions. In 1885, she was also a co-founder and member of the board of the “Berliner Arbeiterinnenverein,” a society, in which she advocated for the interests of female workers. This society, however, was shut down by the police in 1886. In 1891, she edited a woman’s magazine that was later published under the title “Gleichheit” (equality).
Emma Ihrer kept fighting for the women and girls of the working class, although she was penalized and also arrested for doing so.
Marie Juchacz Marie Juchacz was born into a lower class family and perceived early in life the importance of organized self-help for the working people. In 1908 she joined the SPD (Social Democratic Party) and she was a member of the Reichstag between 1919 and 1933. Her major accomplishment was the German workers welfare fund, a charity organization that she helped to establish. Today this is one of biggest non-governmental welfare groups in Germany. She died on 28 January 1956 in Düsseldorf.
Christine Teusch 1925-33 Secretary of the Presidium of the Reichstag. In 1919 she was member of the Nationalversamlung, 1920-33 of the Reichstag for Zemtrum, 1946-66 member of the Landtag (Assembly) and 1947-54 Minister of Culture in the State of Nordrhein-Westphalen. She lived (1888-1968)
Maria Sybilla Merian 1647–1717, Swiss naturalist and painter of insects and flowers; daughter of Matthäus Merian, the elder. Her first book on insects, with plates she engraved and colored, was published in 1699. The same year she went to Dutch Guiana to study tropical insects, and her work on that subject appeared in 1705. Her remarkable painting of a Guianan bird-eating spider was ridiculed as a flight of female fancy until 1863 when an English naturalist observed a similar spider in the Amazon forest. Merian’s careful research in natural history, combined with her exquisite pictorial studies, mostly in watercolor, earned her considerable esteem. The British Museum has two volumes of her drawings.
Dorothea Erxleben – 1715-1762 – From childhood on, Dorothea Erxleben’s father, Dr. Christian Leporin, taught her and her brothers about the healing arts. However, in order to be a certified doctor, she had to study medicine, and, at that time, universities did not admit women. She defended herself against these biases with her writing, “Gründliche Untersuchung der Ursachen, die das weibliche Geschlecht vom Studieren abhalten” from 1742, and also went to the Prussian King Frederick the Great in 1741, asking that the university allowed her to study. She didn’t make use of her royal approval right away, because she got married to the deacon Johann Christian Erxleben. Despite her new household, she expanded her knowledge in the medical field through her studies and medical practicums, causing envy among her colleagues. In order to counter her colleagues’ jealousy, she decided to take her exams after the birth of her fourth child. In 1754, Erxleben successfully passed her exams at the University of Halle. She was 39 years old.
And last but not least:
Jean Pierre Pescatore - one of the most colourful Luxemburgers of the 19th century. Philanthropist, patron of the arts and collector of paintings as well being a passionate orchid hunter with which he filled his greenhouses at his house in Saint-Cloud, France. On his death he left his collection of paintings and sufficient capital to set up a charitable foundation (which still exists).
Troubadour
Whirling round,
with some surprise,
delight
The candlelight
brought pause,
a wish
Then rest in the glow
of excitement knowing
you are the princess today,
mother is the world
and all is possible
aletta mes
They follow me everywhere, these black birds and crows. Ahh, and they miss me everytime.
aletta
I inherited some blocks of wood 20×20″x1.5″ and am thinking of doing a combination of woodwork and painting, meaning the frame is an integral part of the work itself. Last night I got started painting in watercolour as a base to work from. I thought the dyes would penetrate a few layers of the wood, so when shaping it is still visible enough to work as a guide. I have always had a fascination for women “floating”, probably left over from the feelings of achieving flight when I was in the ballet. Carefree, joyful. If anyone else has done work throwing an extra half dimension into a painting and has some tips? My rotary tool sits poised.
I have ten of these block, enough to put together an entire exhibit on floating women or round happy womenfolk, or whatever direction unfolds to me. My moments when the old eyes will focus have been spent looking through the blogs, what wonderful energy, enjoying it very much.
The black Madonna is wonderful. I have seen others, a Polish Madonna reproduction graces part of my hallway, my nephew brought it back from a trip a few years ago.
Living in Luxembourg is enviable. Was there whenever my mother had a singing engagement there when I was a child. We then lived in Rotterdam and later Limburg, which is very near Luxembourg. My absolute favourite place to explore in the region is Valkenburg in the very South of Limburg with it’s grottos, coves and catacombs under the ruin of St. George’s castle. Wonderful memories. I have alas, no photos of it, so if you should ever be in the neighbourhood?
aletta
The Venus of Willendorf was carved from oolitic limestone, and was covered with a thick layer of red ochre when found. The figurine was unearthed during the Wachau railway construction in 1908. The page reference below has links to more photos of not just this venus but many more throughout ancient times. I have always loved this figurine. I have some clay and I think it will now be my turn to make a representation of Venus myself too. To me beauty is always soft and round.
Photo: Vienna Natural History Museum
This is the black Madonna of the church of St John, in the Grund, in Luxembourg. She is made of walnut wood, probably in the 14th century in Cologne. She is generally considered to be pregant and the statue is beautiful as is the church she lives in. She has been linked to the city of Luxembourg for the last 500 years.
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