Steel Cathedrals…

It is all about Love in the end. No matter what you gained, spent. Who are You? What hearts did you touch?

G

It has been asked,

“How should those who enter

The path apply their minds?”

All things are originally uncreated

And presently undying.

Just let your mind be free;

You don’t have to restrain it.

See directly and hear directly;

Come directly and go directly.

When you must go, then go;

When you must stay, then stay.

This is the true path.

A scripture says,

“Conditional existence is the site

of enlightenment, insofar as you

know it as it really is.”

– Niu-t’ou Hui-chung (683-769)

__________
A Small Entry:

Steel Cathederals – David Sylvian

Seijo’s Two Souls

Poems of Ikkyu

—-

We are here because we came to do something. We came to take care of this place and make sure the ones that come after are greeted with Love. It boils down to this: What did we do to change it for the better?
More Love,
Gwyllm

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David Sylvian – Steel Cathedrals (Part 1)

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David Sylvian – Steel Cathedrals (Part 2)

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Seijo’s Two Souls
Chokan had a very beautiful daughter named Seijo. He also had a handsome young cousin named Ochu. Joking, he would often comment that they would make a fine married couple. Actually, he planned to give his daughter in marriage to another man. But young Seijo and Ochu took him seriously; they fell in love and thought themselves engaged. One day Chokan announced Seijo’s betrothal to the other man. In rage and despair, Ochu left by boat. After several days journey, much to his astonishment and joy he discovered that Seijo was on the boat with him!
They went to a nearby city where they lived for several years and had two children. But Seijo could not forget her father; so Ochu decided to go back with her and ask the father’s forgiveness and blessing. When they arrived, he left Seijo on the boat and went to the father’s house. he humbly apologized to the father for taking his daughter away and asked forgiveness for them both.
“What is the meaning of all this madness?” the father exclaimed. Then he related that after Ochu had left, many years ago, his daughter Seijo had fallen ill and had lain comatose in bed since. Ochu assured him that he was mistaken, and, in proof, he brought Seijo from the boat. When she entered, the Seijo lying ill in bed rose to meet her, and the two became one.
Zen Master Goso, referrring to the legend, observed, “Seijo had two souls, one always sick at home and the other in the city, a married woman with two children. Which was the true soul?”

Bells and Robes
Zen Master Unmon said: “The world is vast and wide. Why do you put on your robes at the sound of a bell?”

_________________

Poems of Ikkyu

I Hate Incense
A master’s handiwork cannot be measured

But still priests wag their tongues explaining the “Way” and babbling about “Zen.”

This old monk has never cared for false piety

And my nose wrinkles at the dark smell of incense before the Buddha.
A Fisherman
Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind.

A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure.

Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds;

Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.
My Hovel
The world before my eyes is wan and wasted, just like me.

The earth is decrepit, the sky stormy, all the grass withered.

No spring breeze even at this late date,

Just winter clouds swallowing up my tiny reed hut.
A Meal of Fresh Octopus
Lots of arms, just like Kannon the Goddess;

Sacrificed for me, garnished with citron, I revere it so!

The taste of the sea, just divine!

Sorry, Buddha, this is another precept I just cannot keep.
Exhausted with gay pleasures, I embrace my wife.

The narrow path of asceticism is not for me:

My mind runs in the opposite direction.

It is easy to be glib about Zen — I’ll just keep my mouth shut

And rely on love play all the day long.
It is nice to get a glimpse of a lady bathing –

You scrubbed your flower face and cleansed your lovely body

While this old monk sat in the hot water,

Feeling more blessed than even the emperor of China!
To Lady Mori with Deepest Gratitude and Thanks
The tree was barren of leaves but you brought a new spring.

Long green sprouts, verdant flowers, fresh promise.

Mori, if I ever forget my profound gratitude to you,

Let me burn in hell forever.
(Mori was a blind minstrel, and Ikkyu’s young mistress)

_______

Brilliant Trees…

______
Unblocking boarded up windows, of what was probably once a grow house before we lived here… light pours into the basement, and I rediscovered David Sylvian today and met Amber Asylum in my wanderings as well.
Light pours into the basement, revealing half completed paintings, forgotten art

Light pours into the basement, spilling over photographs – a mythical past

Light pours into the basement, earth smells and silence

Light pours into the basement, stillness follows….
For Your Pleasure…

David Sylvian lyrics, music, images.
Enjoy.
Gwyllm

_____________
Pollen Path
Welcome me father

On the north shores of Lapland

Welcome me father

Who knows no name

Welcome me mother

The earth here is yawning

My body is shaking

For want of a flame
Down here

Got to laugh

The kick back is lightening

Drowning

Got to laugh

This whole thing is frightening
I follow the pollen path

The pollen path
Welcome me father

The lava is rising

Welcome me mother

And give me your name
We’ve drunk from this wellspring

Too long, too long

Dividing the hours

To measure the time
We’ve lived with this heartache

Too long, too long

Numbering

What’s yours, what’s mine
We’ve harboured this sadness

So long

Nursing a voice

To sing us our songs
Raising a voice

To sing our songs
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David Sylvian – Orpheus

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Darkest Dreaming
Stay tonight

We’ll watch the full moon rising

Hold on tight

The sky is breaking
I don’t ever want to be alone

With all my darkest dreaming

Hold me close

The sky is breaking
I don’t ever want to be alone

With all my darkest dreaming

Hold me close

The sky is breaking


God Man
Welcome to Sun State

The language of light

The energies impulse

The loud, dark, iron

The purpose of history

In Eurasian Steppes

From threshold to threshold

Astonishment
You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

God Man
You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

God Man
From different maps

Dead bees on a cake

You’re sweeping the forest

Man, it’s getting late

The milkweed is growing

Through cotton grass

You borrowed the car

But you didn’t ask
You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

God Man
You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

God Man
You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

God Man
And everything’s dark

Then you’re wrapped up

Born into brightness
You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

You’ve misunderstood the place where you stand

—-
Brilliant Trees
When you come to me

I’ll question myself again

Is this grip on life still my own ?

When every step I take

Leads me so far away

Every thought should bring me closer home
And there you stand

Making my life possible

Raise my hands up to heaven

But only you could know
My whole world stands in front of me

By the look in your eyes

By the look in your eyes

My whole life stretches in front of me

Reaching up like a flower

Leading my life back to the soil
Every plan I’ve made ’s

Lost in the scheme of things

Within each lesson lies the price to learn

A reason to believe

Divorces itself from me

Every hope I hold lies in my arms
And there you stand

Making my life possible

Raise my hands up to heaven

But only you could know
My whole world stands in front of me

By the look in your eyes

By the look in your eyes

My whole life stretches in front of me

Reaching up like a flower

Leading my life back to the soil

________

For Rebecca… on this day!

A CRAZED GIRL
That crazed girl improvising her music.

Her poetry, dancing upon the shore,

Her soul in division from itself

Climbing, falling she knew not where,

Hiding amid the cargo of a steamship,

Her knee-cap broken, that girl I declare

A beautiful lofty thing, or a thing

Heroically lost, heroically found.
No matter what disaster occurred

She stood in desperate music wound,

Wound, wound, and she made in her triumph

Where the bales and the baskets lay

No common intelligible sound

But sang, ‘O sea-starved, hungry sea.’

-W.B. Yeats…

______
A different direction today…
For Rebecca

The Charge of the Goddess

Ichycoo

A visit with William Butler Yeats…
Bright Blessings,

Gwyllm
—–

For Rebecca

So… this is my sister Rebecca. She is a couple of years my senior… (I am the youngest of 3 and the only male out of our original familial configuration) Today is her Birthday, and I just wanted to pass on my wishes. love, and appreciation of her.
She is a cultural creative in her endeavors… Through the education & theatre work she did in Poland in the late 80′s, to the womens spiritual groups she helped develop in the Czech Republic in the 90′s, to her work with abused women, theatre work, and so much more. She has worked at making this world a better place in her own way for a wonderful long time. She is also a triple Gemini… 8o)
She has two beautiful daughters, Deva and Sooooz, who I don’t see enough, (another story) and a group of friends spread across the world from Z Budapest to Jean Houston and many in-between.
She has been my friend for many years. There is a difference between just being sister and brother, when you can step forward out of the family patterns, and establish something else. I don’t always agree with her on all her views (and vice versa), and from what I can tell, this is okay with her.
So, Rebecca if you are out there, have a beautiful day, and thank you for blessing my life with your presence…
Much Love From All Of Us!
G

—-

Something For Rebecca on this day:

Charge of the Goddess

Traditional by Doreen Valiente, as adapted by Starhawk:
Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names:
Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Me Who is Queen of all the Wise.
You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites.
Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My Presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth.
For My law is love is unto all beings. Mine is the secret that opens the door of youth, and Mine is the cup of wine of life that is the cauldron of Cerridwen, that is the holy grail of immortality.
I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before.
Nor do I demand aught of sacrifice, for behold, I am the Mother of all things and My love is poured out upon the earth.
Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of Whose feet are the hosts of Heaven, whose body encircles the universe:
I Who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars and the mysteries of the waters,
I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.
For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.
From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.
Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.
And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without.
For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am That which is attained at the end of desire.

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Okay okay okay… Yes, it is a bit of nolstalgia, but hey, its fun!

(Small Faces Promo for Ichycoo Park)

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A visit with William Butler Yeats…

AN ACRE OF GRASS
Picture and book remain,

An acre of green grass

For air and exercise,

Now strength of body goes;

Midnight, an old house

Where nothing stirs but a mouse.
My temptation is quiet.

Here at life’s end

Neither loose imagination,

Nor the mill of the mind

Consuming its rag and bone,

Can make the truth known.
Grant me an old man’s frenzy,

Myself must I remake

Till I am Timon and Lear

Or that William Blake

Who beat upon the wall

Till Truth obeyed his call;
A mind Michael Angelo knew

That can pierce the clouds,

Or inspired by frenzy

Shake the dead in their shrouds;

Forgotten else by mankind,

An old man’s eagle mind.


THE CURSE OF CROMWELL
You ask what — I have found, and far and wide I go:

Nothing but Cromwell’s house and Cromwell’s murderous crew,

The lovers and the dancers are beaten into the clay,

And the tall men and the swordsmen and the horsemen, where are they?

And there is an old beggar wandering in his pride — –

His fathers served their fathers before Christ was crucified.

i{O what of that, O what of that,}

‘i{What is there left to say?}
All neighbourly content and easy talk are gone,

But there’s no good complaining, for money’s rant is on.

He that’s mounting up must on his neighbour mount,

And we and all the Muses are things of no account.

They have schooling of their own, but I pass their schooling by,

What can they know that we know that know the time to die?

i{O what of that, O what of that,}

i{What is there left to say?}
But there’s another knowledge that my heart destroys,

As the fox in the old fable destroyed the Spartan boy’s

Because it proves that things both can and cannot be;

That the swordsmen and the ladies can still keep company,

Can pay the poet for a verse and hear the fiddle sound,

That I am still their servant though all are underground.

i{O what of that, O what of that,}

i{What is there left to say?}
I came on a great house in the middle of the night,

Its open lighted doorway and its windows all alight,

And all my friends were there and made me welcome too;

But I woke in an old ruin that the winds. howled through;

And when I pay attention I must out and walk

Among the dogs and horses that understand my talk.

i{O what of that, O what of that,}

i{What is there left to say?}

THOSE IMAGES
What if I bade you leave

The cavern of the mind?

There’s better exercise

In the sunlight and wind.
I never bade you go

To Moscow or to Rome.

Renounce that drudgery,

Call the Muses home.
Seek those images

That constitute the wild,

The lion and the virgin,

The harlot and the child.
Find in middle air

An eagle on the wing,

Recognise the five

That make the Muses sing.

—-

Sunny Afternoon

(Sir William Russell Flint – The Girl with the Sickle)

Well, it looks like a move is coming soon, we bought a new webhosting package, and will be moving soon to the new addy. I will keep you posted. Morgan Miller and I will be sharing space on the new server, and more than likely collaborating on some new projects, so stay tuned.
Hung out last night with our friends Ed n Janice, as well as their friend Carol having mojitos’ and food late into the evening. lots of laughs and giggles.
Rowan finished up with his SAT test, and just bounded into the house. All quiet has now fled.
I talked to Tim from The West Cork Writers Group via Skype. Amazing really, to have this technology to communicate around the world!
More coming, though it may be in bits and bobs due to the move.
Blessings, Gwyllm
Sunny Afternoon

DMT and Hyperspace

Poetry From The Gaelic

The Kinks – A Well Respected Man

Artist: Sir William Russell Flint

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Sunny Afternoon….

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(Sir William Russell Flint – Waves)

DMT and Hyperspace
by Peter Meyer
In this section and the following one I shall present a view which

elaborates on interpretations 2, 6 and 7. This is speculation but

nevertheless provides a preliminary framework for steps toward an

understanding of what the use of DMT reveals to us.
The world of ordinary, common, experience has three spatial dimensions and

one temporal dimension, forming a place and time for the apparent

persistence of solid objects. Since this is a world of experience it

belongs more to experience than to being. The being, or ontological nature,

of this world may be quite different from what we experience it as.
Psychedelic experience strongly suggests that (as William James

hypothesized) ordinary experience is an island in a sea of possible modes

of consciousness. Under the influence of substances such as LSD and

psilocybin we venture outside of the world as commonly viewed and enter

spaces which may be very strange indeed. This happens as a result of

changing our brain chemistry. Why then should we not regard ordinary

experience too as a result of a particular mode of brain chemstry? Perhaps

the world of ordinary experience is not a faithful representation of

physical reality but rather is physical reality represented in the manner

of ordinary brain functioning. By taking this idea seriously we may free

our understanding of physical reality from the limitatons imposed by the

unthinking assumption that ordinary experience represents physical reality

as it is. In fact physical reality may be totally bizarre and quite unlike

anything we have thought it to be.
In his special theory of relativity, Albert Einstein demonstrated that the

physical world (the world that can be measured by physical instruments, but

is assumed to exist independently) is best understood as a four-dimensional

space whch may be separated into three spatial dimensions and one temporal

dimension in various ways, the particular separation depending on the

motion of a hypothetical observer. It seems that DMT releases one’s

consciousness from the ordinary experience of space and time and catapults

one into direct experience of a four-dimensional world. This explains the

feeling of incredulity which first-time users frequently report.
The DMT realm is described by some as “incredible,” “bizarre,”

“unbelievable,” and even “impossible,” and for many who have experienced it

these terms are not an exaggeration. These terms make sense if the world

experienced under DMT is a four-dimensional world experienced by a mind

which is trying to make sense of it in terms of its usual categories of

three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time. In the DMT state these

categories no longer apply to whatever it is that is being experienced.
Some persons report that it seems that in the DMT experience there is

information transfer of some sort. If so, and if this information is quite

unlike anything that we are used to dealing with (at least at a conscious

level), then is may be that the bizarre quality of the experience results

from attempting to impose categories of thought which are quite

inapplicable.
The space that one breaks through under the influence of a large dose of

DMT has been called “hyperspace” by Terence McKenna and Ralph Abraham and

by Gracie & Zarkov. I suggest that hyperspace is an experience of physical

reality which is “closer” to it (or less mediated) than is our ordinary

experience. In hyperspace one has direct experience of the

four-dimensionality of physical reality.
Parenthetically we may note a mildly interesting case of historical

anticipation. In 1897 one H.C. Geppinger published a book entitled DMT:

Dimensional Motion Times, Development and Application (reprinted Wiiley,

1955), an appropriate title for our current subject. However, he was, of

course, quite unaware of what the initials “DMT” would later come to mean.
When reflecting upon his mescaline experiences Aldous Huxley suggested that

there was something, which he called “Mind-at-Large,” which was filtered by

the ordinary functioning of the human brain to produce ordinary experience.

One may view the human body and the human nervous system as a cybernetic

system for constructing a stable representation of a world of enduring

objects which are able to interact in ways that we are familiar with from

our ordinary experience. This is analogous to a computer’s production of a

stable video display — for even a simple blinking cursor requires

complicated coordination of underlyng physical processes to make it happen.

In a sense we are (or at least may be thought of as) biological computers

whose typical output is the world of everyday reality (as we experience

it). When our biocomputational processes are modified by strange chemicals

we have the opportunity to view the reality underlying ordinary experience

in an entirely new way.
Einstein’s four-dimensional space-time may thus turn out to be not merely a

flux of energetic point-events but to be (or to be contained in a

higher-dimensional space which is) at least as organized as our ordinary

world and which contains intelligent, communcating beings capable of

interacting wth us. As Hamlet remarked to his Aristotelian tutor, following

an encounter with a dead soul (his deceased father), “There are more things

in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Should we be surprised to find that there are more intelligent,

communicating, beings in the higher-dimensional reality underlying our

ordinary experience than we find within that experience?

—————————————————————————
The “elves”
Hyperspace, as it is revealed by DMT (revealed to some, anyway) appears to

be full of personal entities. They are non-physical in the sense that they

are not objects in the three-dimensional space to which we are accustomed.

Some of the beings encountered in the DMT state may once have been living

humans, but perhaps such “dead souls” are in the minority among the

intelligent beings in that realm.
In his classic The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, W.Y. Evans-Wentz

recorded many tales provided to him by local people of encounters with

beings, variously called fairies, elves, the wee folk, the good people, the

gentry, the Sidhe, the Tuatha De Danann, etc., who inhabit a realm normally

beyond our ken. The belief in this order of beings was firm among the

Celtic peoples of Britain and France at the time Evans-Wentz conducted his

studies (c. 1900), but has since been largely supplanted by the beliefs

instilled in the public by the rise of materialistic science and

technology. Evans-Wentz collected numerous reports of elf-sigting, such as

the following (which is part of an account given by a member of the Lower

House of the Manx Parliament):
…I looked across the river and saw a circle of supernatural

light, which I have now come to regard as the “astral light” or

the light of Nature, as it is called by mystics, and in which

spirits become visible… [I]nto this space, and the circle of

light, from the surrounding sides apparently, I saw come in twos

and threes a great crowd of little beings smaller than Tom Thumb

and his wife. All of them, who appeared like soldiers, were

dressed in red. They moved back and forth amid the circle of

light, as they formed into order like troops drilling (pg.113)
Reviewing his data, Evans-Wentz writes:
We seem, in fact, to have arrived at a point in our long

investigations where we can postulate scientifically, on the

showing of the data of psychical research, the existence of such

invisible intelligences as gods, genii, daemons, all kinds of

true fairies, and disembodied [i.e., deceased] men. (pg.481)
He then goes on to quote an earlier researcher:
Either it is we who produce these phenomena [which, says

Evans-Wentz, is unreasonable] or it is spirits. But mark this

well: these spirits are not necessarily the souls of the dead;

for other kinds of spiritual beings may exist, and space may be

full of them without our ever knowing anything about it, except

under unusual circumstances [such as a sudden change in brain

chemistry]. Do we not find in the different ancient literatures,

demons, angels, gnomes, goblins, sprites, spectres, elementals,

etc? Perhaps these legends are not without some foundation in

fact. (Flammarion, quoted at Pg.481)
Evans-Wentz concludes (pg.490) that a realm of discarnate, intelligent

forces known as fairies, elves, etc., exists “as a supernormal state of

consciousness into which men and women may enter temporarily in dreams,

trances, or in various ecstatic conditions,” such as, we may add, the

condition produced by smoking DMT.
I suggest that the fairie world studied by Evans-Wentz and the objective

space into which one may enter under the influence of DMT are the same.
From Psychedelic Monographs and Essays #6, p50

_______
Poetry From The Gaelic….

(a favourite poem starts this selection, that I have shared before…. I hope you enjoy! G)
Time, the deer, is in the Wood of Hallaig

-Sorley Maclean
The window is nailed and boarded

through which I saw the West

and my love is at the Burn of Hallaig,

a birch tree, and she has always been
between Inver and Milk Hollow,

here and there about Baile-chuirn:

she is a birch, a hazel,

a straight slender young rowan.
In Screapadal of my people,

where Norman and Big Hector were,

their daughters and their sons are a wood

going up beside the stream.
Proud tonight the pine cocks

crowing on the top of Cnoc an Ra,

straight their backs in the moonlight –

they are not the wood I love.
I will wait for the birch wood

until it comes up by the Cairn,

until the whole ridge from Beinn na Lice

will be under its shade.
If it does not, I will go down to Hallaig,

to the sabbath of the dead,

where the people are frequenting,

every single generation gone.
They are still in Hallaig,

Macleans and Macleods,

All who were there in the time of Mac Gille Chaluim:

the dead have been seen alive –
the men lying on the green

at the end of every house that was,

the girls a wood of birches,

straight their backs, bent their heads.
Between the Leac and Fearns

the road is under mild moss

and the girls in silent bands

go to Clachan as in the beginning.
And return from Clachan,

from Suisnish and the land of the living;

Each one young and light stepping,

without the heartbreak of the tale.
From the Burn of Fearns to the raised beach

that is clear in the mystery of the hills,

there is only the congregation of the girls

keeping up the endless walk,
coming back to Hallaig in the evening,

in the dumb living twilight,

filling the steep slopes,

their laughter in my ears a mist,
and their beauty a film on my heart

before the dimness comes on the kyles,

and when the sun goes down behind Dun Cana

a vehement bullet will come from the gun of Love;
and will strike the deer that goes dizzily,

sniffing at the grass-grown ruined homes;

his eye will freeze in the wood;

his blood will not be traced while I live.


Be As A Tree…
Martin O’ Dierain
Man who makes poems,

Keep back their true import,

Conceal by three

Be as a tree,
Gather in all that’s known,

Man who makes poems,

Don’t stir, don’t bend

Before this present tempest.
Stay steady,

Unswaying,

Watching the weather

Until the right day.
Let the wind disarray,

Maker of lays,

All your outer foliage;

Your trunk don’t budge.
A tree is alone

In the wood’s midst,

Among people a poet

Above all is loneliest.
A tree is steadfast

In its portion of land,

Poet, set yourself, man,

Take a stand!
Save your frame,

Gather your knowing,

Focus in every way

Prepared for the poem.
Maker of poems,

You are half womanly,

Be male, be whole,

Be as a tree.


All That Came In That One Coracle
Aonghas Dubh MacNeacail
cast every stone to the ground,

let the weeds grow wild –

there’s a breath remains in the earth
still the tongue with force,

keep the mind oppressed –

the body will not be a corpse
every current

will carry a vessel
put a seed, like memory,

into the vessel
like the breath of a people

in the vessel
carrying a home

in the vessel
from high derry

of tenacious oaks

a seed-candle came

in the slender coracle
a dove was vessel

for the seed

that came across

the bald-browed sea
that seed burst out

on slope and lawn,

its green green leaves

like a dancer, bold
that was the stream

spread through the land
a people’s words

went through the land
the power of knowledge

went through the land
the leaves of knowledge

through every land
and though the light

had lost its peak,

in the grey mist trail

of the black black flame

of empire states,

the seed’s cargo

flowed underground
the smallest threads

of flowing veins

kept the fluid voice

through a cave of pain,

the unquenchable voice

sang a nursing sun

for the bloom of light
and did you count,

bold dove,

in your slender ship of skin,

the leanest days

that fell on us

since you sailed out

across the moil, with

your great embroidered book

wrapped in your language,

impenetrable shield

against devastation
and though the shepherd went,

though the ploughman left,

this ruin remained, like a husk

awaiting its seed
and see, over here, between

birch wood and salmon sea,

all the glass and stone

rising like new blossoms,

the golden light of next year,

fort of hopes, fort of promise
_______
The Kinks – A Well Respected Man

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(Sir William Russell Flint – Madamoiselle Sophie)

A Late One….

Just got home, took a shower, tried to talk to a friend in Ireland via Skype, had problems… try again soon.
I put this together for the fun of it, pulling this and that from hither and yon.
I hope you enjoy it, and by the way, give Radio Free EarthRites a listen to, lots of new music!
Gwyllm
Links O’ The Day

Water Boys Touring The New Album

From Iceland: The Cottager and his Cat

Keats For A Summer Afternoon…

Art: Gustave Dore (The Poe Series…)

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Links O’ The Day:

why settle for the lesser evil? ’08

Another Example Of Capitalism Run-Amok…

REG HENRY: Adam, Eve and a fig leaf to cover science

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Water Boys Touring The New Album

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From Iceland: The Cottager and his Cat
Once upon a time there lived an old man and his wife in a dirty, tumble-down cottage, not very far from the splendid palace where the king and queen dwelt. In spite of the wretched state of the hut, which many people declared was too bad even for a pig to live in, the old man was very rich, for he was a great miser, and lucky besides, and would often go without food all day sooner than change one of his beloved gold pieces.
But after a while he found that he had starved himself once too often. He fell ill, and had no strength to get well again, and in a few days he died, leaving his wife and one son behind him.
The night following his death, the son dreamed that an unknown man appeared to him and said: ‘Listen to me; your father is dead and your mother will soon die, and all their riches will belong to you. Half of his wealth is ill-gotten, and this you must give back to the poor from whom he squeezed it. The other half you must throw into the sea. Watch, however, as the money sinks into the water, and if anything should swim, catch it and keep it, even if it is nothing more than a bit of paper.’
Then the man vanished, and the youth awoke.
The remembrance of his dream troubled him greatly. He did not want to part with the riches that his father had left him, for he had known all his life what it was to be cold and hungry, and now he had hoped for a little comfort and pleasure. Still, he was honest and good-hearted, and if his father had come wrongfully by his wealth he felt he could never enjoy it, and at last he made up his mind to do as he had been bidden. He found out who were the people who were poorest in the village, and spent half of his money in helping them, and the other half he put in his pocket. From a rock that jutted right out into the sea he flung it in. In a moment it was out of sight, and no man could have told the spot where it had sunk, except for a tiny scrap of paper floating on the water. He stretched down carefully and managed to reach it, and on opening it found six shillings wrapped inside. This was now all the money he had in the world.
The young man stood and looked at it thoughtfully. ‘Well, I can’t do much with this,’ he said to himself; but, after all, six shillings were better than nothing, and he wrapped them up again and slipped them into his coat.
He worked in his garden for the next few weeks, and he and his mother contrived to live on the fruit and vegetables he got out of it, and then she too died suddenly. The poor fellow felt very sad when he had laid her in her grave, and with a heavy heart he wandered into the forest, not knowing where he was going. By-and-by he began to get hungry, and seeing a small hut in front of him, he knocked at the door and asked if they could give him some milk. The old woman who opened it begged him to come in, adding kindly, that if he wanted a night’s lodging he might have it without its costing him anything.
Two women and three men were at supper when he entered, and silently made room for him to sit down by them. When he had eaten he began to look about him, and was surprised to see an animal sitting by the fire different from anything he had ever noticed before. It was grey in colour, and not very big; but its eyes were large and very bright, and it seemed to be singing in an odd way, quite unlike any animal in the forest. ‘What is the name of that strange little creature?’ asked he. And they answered, ‘We call it a cat.’
‘I should like to buy it–if it is not too dear,’ said the young man; ‘it would be company for me.’ And they told him that he might have it for six shillings, if he cared to give so much. The young man took out his precious bit of paper, handed them the six shillings, and the next morning bade them farewell, with the cat lying snugly in his cloak.
For the whole day they wandered through meadows and forests, till in the evening they reached a house. The young fellow knocked at the door and asked the old man who opened it if he could rest there that night, adding that he had no money to pay for it. ‘Then I must give it to you,’ answered the man, and led him into a room where two women and two men were sitting at supper. One of the women was the old man’s wife, the other his daughter. He placed the cat on the mantel shelf, and they all crowded round to examine this strange beast, and the cat rubbed itself against them, and held out its paw, and sang to them; and the women were delighted, and gave it everything that a cat could eat, and a great deal more besides.
After hearing the youth’s story, and how he had nothing in the world left him except his cat, the old man advised him to go to the palace, which was only a few miles distant, and take counsel of the king, who was kind to everyone, and would certainly be his friend. The young man thanked him, and said he would gladly take his advice; and early next morning he set out for the royal palace.
He sent a message to the king to beg for an audience, and received a reply that he was to go into the great hall, where he would find his Majesty.
The king was at dinner with his court when the young man entered, and he signed to him to come near. The youth bowed low, and then gazed in surprise at the crowd of little black creatures who were running about the floor, and even on the table itself. Indeed, they were so bold that they snatched pieces of food from the King’s own plate, and if he drove them away, tried to bite his hands, so that he could not eat his food, and his courtiers fared no better.
‘What sort of animals are these?’ asked the youth of one of the ladies sitting near him.
‘They are called rats,’ answered the king, who had overheard the question, ‘and for years we have tried some way of putting an end to them, but it is impossible. They come into our very beds.’
At this moment something was seen flying through the air. The cat was on the table, and with two or three shakes a number of rats were lying dead round him. Then a great scuffling of feet was heard, and in a few minutes the hall was clear.
For some minutes the King and his courtiers only looked at each other in astonishment. ‘What kind of animal is that which can work magic of this sort?’ asked he. And the young man told him that it was called a cat, and that he had bought it for six shillings.
And the King answered: ‘Because of the luck you have brought me, in freeing my palace from the plague which has tormented me for many years, I will give you the choice of two things. Either you shall be my Prime Minister, or else you shall marry my daughter and reign after me. Say, which shall it be?’
‘The princess and the kingdom,’ said the young man.
And so it was.

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Keats For A Summer Afternoon…

Ode on a Grecian Urn
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed

Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearied,

For ever piping songs for ever new;

More happy love! more happy, happy love!

For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d,

For ever panting, and for ever young;

All breathing human passion far above,

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d,

A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?

To what green altar, O mysterious priest,

Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,

And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?

What little town by river or sea shore,

Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,

Is emptied of it’s folk, this pious morn?

And, little town, thy streets for evermore

Will silent be; and not a soul to tell

Why thou art desolate, can e’er return.
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede

Of marble men and maidens overwrought,

With forest branches and the trodden weed;

Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought

As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,–that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”


Original version of La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1819
Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.
Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel’s granary is full,

And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow,

With anguish moist and fever-dew,

And on thy cheeks a fading rose

Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful – a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,

And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;

She looked at me as she did love,

And made sweet moan.
I set her on my pacing steed,

And nothing else saw all day long,

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,

And honey wild, and manna-dew,

And sure in language strange she said –

‘I love thee true’.
She took me to her elfin grot,

And there she wept and sighed full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

With kisses four.
And there she lulled me asleep

And there I dreamed – Ah! woe betide! –

The latest dream I ever dreamt

On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried – ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci

Hath thee in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

With horrid warning gaped wide,

And I awoke and found me here,

On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here

Alone and palely loitering,

Though the sedge is withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.


The Human Seasons
Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;

There are four seasons in the mind of man:

He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear

Takes in all beauty with an easy span:

He has his Summer, when luxuriously

Spring’s honied cud of youthful thought he loves

To ruminate, and by such dreaming high

Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves

His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings

He furleth close; contented so to look

On mists in idleness–to let fair things

Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.

He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,

Or else he would forego his mortal nature.

The Soul Shrine

A CHOICH ANAMA
Dhe tabhair aithne da t’ ainghle beannaichte,

Caim a chumail air an staing-sa nochd,

Comachadh crabhaidh, tabhaidh, teannachaidh,

Chumas a choich anama-sa bho lochd.
Teasruig a Dhe an t-ardrach seo a nochd,

Iad fein ’s an cuid ’s an cliu,

Tar iad o eug, o ghabhadh, o lochd,

’S o thoradh na farmaid ’s na mi-ruin.
Tabhair duinn, a Dhe na fois,

Taingealachd an cois ar call,

Bhi coimhlionadh do lagh a bhos,

’S to fein a mhealtuinn thall.

THE SOUL SHRINE
God, give charge to Thy blessed angels,

To keep guard around this stead to-night,

A band sacred, strong, and steadfast,

That will shield this soul-shrine from harm.
Safeguard Thou, God, this household to-night,

Themselves and their means and their fame,

Deliver them from death, from distress, from harm,

From the fruits of envy and of enmity.
Give Thou to us, O God of peace,

Thankfulness despite our loss,

To obey Thy statutes here below,

And to enjoy Thyself above.
The Soul Shrine is sung by the people (From The Hebrides) as they retire to rest. They say that the angels of heaven guard them in sleep and shield them from harm. Should any untoward event occur to themselves or to their flocks, they avow that the cause was the deadness of their hearts, the coldness of their faith, and the fewness of their prayers.

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We are moving soon, so download your copy in the next copy of days!

A late day entry… This and that, stuff of dreams, ancestors, and the welling up of the waves of time. Summer has descended upon the Upper Left Coast, and it is all pretty nice.
Sat outside last night watching the wind buffet the crows’ nests up in the oaks at the front of our neighbors house. You could hear the young complain as they were tossed back and forth. Nothing like sea-sick crows… for complaining.
The Hummingbirds are back, as are all the other little ones. You can see them, and especially hear them flit about the yard. It is all rather nice!
Blessings,
Gwyllm

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Tasty Bits:

Celtic Woman – The Voice

The Hags of the Long Teeth

English Pronunciation!?!

Peatbog Faeries – Crusty Mary

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Celtic Woman – The Voice

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The Hags of the Long Teeth

Long ago, in the old time, there came a party of gentlemen from Dublin to Loch Glynn a-hunting and a-fishing. They put up in the priest’s house, as there was no inn in the little village.
The first day they went a-hunting, they went into the Wood of Driminuch, and it was not long till they routed a hare. They fired many a ball after him, but they could not bring him down. They followed him till they saw him going into a little house in the wood.
When they came to the door, they saw a great black dog, and he would not let them in.
“Put a ball through the beggar,” said a main of them. He let fly a ball, but the dog caught it in his mouth, chewed it, and flung it on the ground. They fired another ball, and another, but the dog did the same thing with them. Then he began barking as loud as he could, and it was not long till there came out a hag, and every tooth in her head as long as the tongs. “What are you doing to my pup?” says the hag.
“A hare went into your house, and this dog won’t let us in after him,” says a man of the hunters.
“Lie down, pup,” said the hag. Then she said: “Ye can come in if ye wish.” The hunters were afraid to go in, but a man of them asked: “Is there any person in the house with you?”
“There are six sisters,” said the old woman. “We should like to see them,” said the hunters. No sooner had he said the word than the six old women came out, and each of them with teeth as long as the other. Such a sight the hunters had never seen before.
They went through the wood then, and they saw seven vultures on one tree, and they screeching. The hunters began cracking balls after them, but if they were in it ever since they would never bring down one of them.
There came a gray old man to them and said: “Those are the hags of the long tooth that are living in the little house over there. Do ye not know that they are under enchantment? They are there these hundreds of years, and they have a dog that never lets in anyone to the little house. They have a castle under the lake, and it is often the people saw them making seven swans of themselves, and going into the lake.”
When the hunters came home that evening they told everything they heard and saw to the priest, but he did not believe the story.
On the day on the morrow, the priest went with the hunters, and when they came near the little house they saw the big black dog at the door. The priest put his conveniences for blessing under his neck, and drew out a book and began reading prayers. The big dog began barking loudly. The hags came out, and when they saw the priest they let a screech out of them that was heard in every part of Ireland. When the priest was a while reading, the hags made vultures of themselves and flew up into a big tree that was over the house.
The priest began pressing in on the dog until he was within a couple of feet of him.
The dog gave a leap up, struck the priest with its four feet, and put him head over heels.
When the hunters took him up he was deaf and dumb, and the dog did not move from the door.
They brought the priest home and sent for the bishop. When he came and heard the story there was great grief on him, The people gathered together and asked of him to banish the hags of enchantment out of the wood, There was fright and shame on him, and he did not know what he would do, but he said to them: “I have no means of banishing them till I go home, but I will come at the end of a month and banish them.”
The priest was too badly hurt to say anything. The big black dog was father of the hags, and his name was Dermod O’Muloony. His own son killed him, because he found him with his wife the day after their marriage, and killed the sisters for fear they should tell on him.
One night the bishop was in his chamber asleep, when one of the hags of the long tooth opened the door and came in. When the bishop wakened up he saw the hag standing by the side of his bed. He was so much afraid he was not able to speak a word until the hag spoke and said to him: “Let there be no fear on you; I did not come to do you harm, but to give you advice. You promised the people of Loch Glynn that you would come to banish the hags of the long tooth out of the wood of Driminuch. If you come you will never go back alive.”
His talk came to the bishop, and he said: “I cannot break my word.”
“We have only a year and a day to be in the wood,” said the hag, “and you can put off the people until then.”
“Why are ye in the woods as ye are?” says the bishop.
“Our brother killed us,” said the hag, “and when we went before the arch-judge, there was judgment passed on us, we to be as we are two hundred years. We have a castle under the lake, and be in it every night. We are suffering for the crime our father did.” Then she told him the crime the father did.
“Hard is your case,” said the bishop, “but we must put up with the will of the arch-judge, and I shall not trouble ye.”
“You will get an account, when we are gone from the wood,” said the hag. Then she went from him.
In the morning, the day on the morrow, the bishop came to Loch Glynn. He sent out notice and gathered the people. Then he said to them: “It is the will of the arch-king that the power of enchantment be not banished for another year and a day, and ye must keep out of the wood until then. It is a great wonder to me that ye never saw the hags of enchantment till the hunters came from Dublin.–It’s a pity they did not remain at home.”
About a week after that the priest was one day by himself in his chamber alone. The day was very fine and the window was open. The robin of the red breast came in and a little herb in its mouth. The priest stretched out his hand, and she laid the herb down on it. “Perhaps it was God sent me this herb,” said the priest to himself, and he ate it. He had not eaten it one moment till he was as well as ever he was, and he said:
“A thousand thanks to Him who has power stronger than the power of enchantment.”
Then said the robin: “Do you remember the robin of the broken foot you had, two years this last winter.”
I remember her, indeed,” said the priest, “but she went from me when the summer came.”
“I am the same robin, and but for the good you did me I would not be alive now, and you would be deaf and dumb throughout your life. Take my advice now, and do not go near the hags of the long tooth any more, and do not tell to any person living that I gave you the herb.” Then she flew from him.
When the house-keeper came she wondered to find that he had both his talk and his hearing. He sent word to the bishop and he came to Loch Glynn. He asked the priest how it was that he got better so suddenly. “It is a secret,” said the priest, “but a certain friend gave me a little herb and it cured me.”
Nothing else happened worth telling, till the year was gone. One night after that the bishop was in his chamber when the door opened, and the hag of the long tooth walked in, and said: “I come to give you notice that we will be leaving the wood a week from to-day. I have one thing to ask of you if you will do it for me.”
“If it is in my power, and it not to be against the faith,” said the bishop.
“A week from to-day,” said the hag, “there will be seven vultures dead at the door of our house in the wood. Give orders to bury them in the quarry that is between the wood and Ballyglas; that is all I am asking of you.”
“I shall do that if I am alive,” said the bishop. Then she left him, and he was not sorry
she to go from him.
A week after that day, the bishop came to Loch Glynn, and the day after he took men with him and went to the hags’ house in the wood of Driminuch.
The big black dog was at the door, and when he saw the bishop he began running and never stopped until he went into the lake.
He saw the seven vultures dead at the door, and he said to the men: “Take them with you and follow me.”
They took up the vultures and followed him to the brink of the quarry. Then he said to them: “Throw them into the quarry: There is an end to the hags of the enchantment.”
As soon as the men threw them down to the bottom of the quarry, there rose from it seven swans as white as snow, and flew out of their sight. It was the opinion of the bishop and of every person who heard the story that it was up to heaven they flew, and that the big black dog went to the castle under the lake.
At any rate, nobody saw the hags of the long tooth or the big black dog from that out, any more.

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English Pronunciation!?!
If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.

Dearest creature in creation,

Study English pronunciation.

I will teach you in my verse

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.

I will keep you, Suzy, busy,

Make your head with heat grow dizzy.

Tear in eye, your dress will tear.

So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,

Dies and diet, lord and word,

Sword and sward, retain and Britain.

(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)

Now I surely will not plague you

With such words as plaque and ague.

But be careful how you speak:

Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;

Cloven, oven, how and low,

Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,

Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,

Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,

Exiles, similes, and reviles;

Scholar, vicar, and cigar,

Solar, mica, war and far;

One, anemone, Balmoral,

Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;

Gertrude, German, wind and mind,

Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,

Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.

Blood and flood are not like food,

Nor is mould like should and would.

Viscous, viscount, load and broad,

Toward, to forward, to reward.

And your pronunciation’s OK

When you correctly say croquet,

Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,

Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour

And enamour rhyme with hammer.

River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,

Doll and roll and some and home.

Stranger does not rhyme with anger,

Neither does devour with clangour.

Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,

Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,

Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,

And then singer, ginger, linger,

Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,

Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,

Nor does fury sound like bury.

Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.

Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.

Though the differences seem little,

We say actual but victual.

Refer does not rhyme with deafer.

Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.

Mint, pint, senate and sedate;

Dull, bull, and George ate late.

Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,

Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,

Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.

We say hallowed, but allowed,

People, leopard, towed, but vowed.

Mark the differences, moreover,

Between mover, cover, clover;

Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,

Chalice, but police and lice;

Camel, constable, unstable,

Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,

Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.

Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,

Senator, spectator, mayor.

Tour, but our and succour, four.

Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

Sea, idea, Korea, area,

Psalm, Maria, but malaria.

Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.

Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,

Dandelion and battalion.

Sally with ally, yea, ye,

Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.

Say aver, but ever, fever,

Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.

Heron, granary, canary.

Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.

Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

Large, but target, gin, give, verging,

Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.

Ear, but earn and wear and tear

Do not rhyme with here but ere.

Seven is right, but so is even,

Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,

Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,

Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)

Is a paling stout and spikey?

Won’t it make you lose your wits,

Writing groats and saying grits?

It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:

Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,

Islington and Isle of Wight,

Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough,

Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?

Hiccough has the sound of cup.

My advice is to give up!!!

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Peatbog Faeries – Crusty Mary

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Touching The Heart

On The Music Box: Radio Free EarthRites!

Monday Apparently….
What effect do we have on those we never meet? How do we touch those that find themselves alone even in a crowd? What do we do to help the changing of the world?
I was touched today by reading about Cindy Sheehan throwing in the towel regarding the peace movement. Regardless of what people thought of her, and much of it was unkind, she did her bit to make the world a better place. Those that spoke badly of her, I wonder what they have given of themselves?
Pax,
Gwyllm

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What is up for today:

The Links

Koans: If You Love, Love Openly & My Heart Burns Like Fire

A Remembrance: Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett

Rilke…. 3 Poems

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The Links:

Missing “13-year-old” apparently diminutive 34-year-old woman

Obviously these Scientist guys haven’t been very observant: ‘Living plugs’ smooth ant journey

Missing German doctor reappears after 22 years

Oldest Indian celebrates his 138th

What’s up… pussycat?

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Koans:

If You Love, Love Openly
Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing meditation with a certain Zen master.
Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting upon a private meeting.
Eshun did not reply. The following day the master gave a lecture to the group, and when it was over, Eshun arose. Addressing the one who had written to her, she said: “If you really love me so much, come and embrace me now.”


My Heart Burns Like Fire
Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to America, said: “My heart burns like fire but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes.” He made the following rules which he practiced every day of his life.

In the morning before dressing, light incense and meditate.
Retire at a regular hour. Partake of food at regular intervals. Eat with moderation and never to the point of satisfaction.
Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone. When alone, maintain the same attitude you have in receiving guests.
Watch what you say, and whatever you say, practice it.
When an opportunity comes do not let it pass by, yet always think twice before acting.
Do not regret the past. Look to the future.
Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child.
Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.
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A Remembrance: Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett
It has been 11 and 1/2 years since Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett left this world… but I still remember the time I was privileged to spend with her on her initial journey to Mt. Shasta.
She had a most engaging laugh, a quick wit and a boundless heart. Her Abbey is doing well I hear, and next time down, I will visit it, and leave flowers for her memory. She touched so many people, and gave so much of her self.
Sitting in Helen Ruths’ living room, talking to Jiyu was quite the mind opener for an 18 year old. She was adroit, and to the point in everything discussed.
So she touches people still, and in ways she probably never imagined. Taking her time with a young man interested in Zen, patiently explaining points, and being encouraging… touched my heart, and still does.

-Gwyllm

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Rilke…. 3 Poems

Remembrance
And you wait, keep waiting for that one thing

which would infinitely enrich your life:

the powerful, uniquely uncommon,

the awakening of dormant stones,

depths that would reveal you to yourself.
In the dusk you notice the book shelves

with their volumes in gold and in brown;

and you think of far lands you journeyed,

of pictures and of shimmering gowns

worn by women you conquered and lost.
And it comes to you all of a sudden:

That was it! And you arise, for you are

aware of a year in your distant past

with its fears and events and prayers.


What birds plunge through is not the intimate space
What birds plunge through is not the intimate space

in which you see all forms intensified.

(Out in the Open, you would be denied

your self, would disappear into that vastness.)
Space reaches from us and construes the world:

to know a tree, in its true element,

throw inner space around it, from that pure

abundance in you. Surround it with restraint.

It has no limits. Not till it is held

in your renouncing is it truly there.


You, you only, exist.
You, you only, exist.

We pass away, till at last,

our passing is so immense

that you arise: beautiful moment,

in all you suddenness,

arising in love, or enchanted

in the contraction of work.
To you I belong, however time may

wear me away. From you to you

I go commanded. In between

the garland is hanging in chance; but if you

take it up and up and up: look:

all becomes a festival!

Evolution In The Air….

Monday on the far left shore… Bad incense, mixed in with a Samba from New York bouncing around the house…
Nephew Ethan visited last night, showing his sketch book and the art he is working on. Mary cooked a fabulous curry, and a good time was had by all.
Working on illustrations for the magazine today, and a bit of yard work as well.
Feels like summer, such beauty here in the North West!
Bright Blessings,
Gwyllm
Our Link Of The Day

Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Meher Baba on Love

The War on Drugs is a War on Consciousness

Three Poems From The Golden Dawn (O.T.O.)

Art: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

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Our Link Of The Day: The West Cork Writers Group Here is a site well worth visiting. Full of Re/Evolutionary writers, with something to say, including our friend Tim Daly. Take some time, and visit. Sign the guest book to show ‘em you have been by, and let your friends know. Good stuff coming from Ireland, and well worth letting others know….

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Rodrigo Y Gabriela: ‘For Diablo Rojo’

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Meher Baba on Love:

Love is essentially self-communicative: those who do not have it catch it from those who have it…. No amount of rites, rituals, ceremonies, worship, meditation, penance and remembrance can produce love in themselves. None of these is necessarily a sign of love. On the contrary, those who sigh loudly and weep and wail have yet to experience love. Love sets on fire the one who finds it. At the same time it seals his lips so that no smoke comes out.
There is nothing that love cannot achieve,

and there is nothing that love cannot sacrifice.
Love can attain what the intellect cannot fathom.

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The War on Drugs is a War on Consciousness

by Carol Moore

I believe that a prime motivation of those waging the current “war on drugs” is to discredit and destroy any “counterculture” before it becomes the dominant culture. Religious fundamentalists have not forgotten the religious upheavals of the 1960s when millions of young people, often after using marijuana and other psychedelics, reading Timothy Leary or Alan Watts, or listening to “psychedelic” music by the Beatles or the Jefferson Airplane, rejected Christianity and Judaism. Even ministers, priests, nuns and rabbis abandoned their callings! Consciousness, altered consciousness, and higher consciousness rather than obedience, duty, and sacrifice became the prime concern of the new spirituality.
The response of Catholic, conservative and fundamentalist religious groups was to feverishly expand their efforts to enforce more fundamentalist views among their members and to gain greater political influence. While fundamentalists have lost many battles over abortion, prayer and pornography, they have found the government a willing ally in the “war on drugs”. For just as drugs, the counterculture and “consciousness” undermine faith in hierarchical religious authority, so do they undermine faith in political authority.
John Lennon’s “Imagine”, an anthem of the counter culture, asks us to imagine “no religion” and “no countries”. Lennon, a drug use advocate, was murdered by a fundamentalist Christian, a former fan, who knew how subversive and powerful this message is. In 1990, on Lennon’s 50th birthday radio stations worldwide played “Imagine” simultaneously to a billion people. All heard Yoko Ono say, “The dream we dream alone is just a dream, but the dream we dream together is reality.” The message is that we are not subjects of an authoritarian god or even natural law, but that we consciously co-create reality. Implied is the possibility of a diversity of realities.
However, as the horrors of the drug war mount and the injustices spread to all of us, the uneasy feeling that there is some hidden agenda behind the “war on drugs” grows among more aware and conscious individuals. Some of these agendas are scapegoating drug users for larger ills, excuses for racial repression and expanding government power, an outlet for militarism, and the desire of tobacco and liquor producers to squash potential competition.
However, a prime hidden agenda remains the suppression of an alternate religious view—that consciousness is the nature and purpose of reality, that humans freely create their realities. Because psychoactive drugs are a means of quickly and effectively initiating individuals into this view they must be suppressed—even if it means punishment, incarceration and death for hundreds of thousands of people. But such is the nature of all religious wars.
Excerpts from Intoxication The “Fourth Drive” by Dr. Ronald K. Siegel. Article in the September/October 1990 Humanist magazine. (Later made into a book.)
History shows that we have always used drugs. In every age, in every part of this planet, people have pursued intoxication with plant drugs, alcohol, and other mind-altering substances…Almost every species of animal has engaged in the natural pursuit of intoxicants. This behavior has so much force and persistence that it functions like a drive, just like our drives of hunger, thirst and sex. This “fourth drive” is a natural part of biology, creating the irrepressible demand for drugs. In a sense, the war on drugs is a war against ourselves, a denial of our very nature…
Legalization is a risky proposal that would cut the drug crime connection and reduce many social ills, yet it would invite more use and abuse…Making some dangerous drugs illegal while keeping others (like alcohol and cigarettes) legal is not the solution. Out-lawing drugs in order to solve drug problems is much like outlawing sex in order to win the war against AIDS.
In order to solve the drug problem, we must recognize that intoxicants are medicines, treatments for the human condition. Then we must make them as safe and risk-free and, yes, as healthy as possible.
Dream with me for a moment. What would be wrong if we had perfectly safe drugs? It mean drugs that delivered the same effects as our most popular ones but never caused dependency, disease, dysfunction, or death?… Such intoxicants are available right now that are far safer than the ones we currently use…We must begin by recognizing that there is a legitimate place in our society for intoxication.
Excerpts from The Natural Mind—An Investigation of Drugs and the Higher Consciousness by Dr. Andrew Weil, 1985.
Human beings are born with a drive to experiment with ways of changing consciousness…The desire to alter consciousness periodically is an innate, normal drive analogous to hunger or the sexual drive…
The root of the drug problem is the failure of our culture to provide for a basic human need. Once we recognize the importance and value of other states of consciousness, we can begin to teach people, particularly the young, how to satisfy their needs without drugs. The chief advantage of drugs is that they are quick and effective, producing desired results without requiring effort. Their chief disadvantage is that they fail us over time; used regularly and frequently, they do not maintain the experiences sought and, instead, limit our options and freedom…
Altered states of consciousness…appear to be the ways to more effective and fuller use of the nervous system, to development of creative and intellectual faculties, and to attainment of certain kinds of thought that have been deemed exalted by all who have experienced them…(They) may even be a key factor in the present evolution of the human nervous system…To try to thwart (their) expression in individuals and society might be psychologically crippling for people and evolutionarily suicidal for the species.
Excerpt from book Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna, 1992.
The suppression of the natural human fascination with altered states of consciousness and the present perilous situation of all life on earth are intimately and causally connected. When we suppress access to shamanic ecstasy, we close off the refreshing waters of emotion that flow from having a deeply bonded, almost symbiotic relationship to the earth. As a consequence, the maladaptive social styles that encourage overpopulation, resource mismanagement, and environmental toxification develop and maintain themselves.
Copyright 1998 by Carol Moore. Permission to reprint freely granted, provided the article is reprinted in full and that any reprint is accompanied by this copyright statement and the URL http://www.carolmoore.net.

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Three Poems From The Golden Dawn (O.T.O.)

A Call of the Sidhe

– A.E.
Tarry thou yet, late lingerer in the twilight’s glory:

Gay are the hills with song: earth’s faery children leave

More dim abodes to roam the primrose-hearted eve,

Opening their glimmering lips to breathe some wondrous story.

Hush, not a whisper! Let your heart alone go dreaming.

Dream unto dream may pass: deep in the heart alone

Murmurs the Mighty One his solemn undertone.

Canst thou not see adown the silver cloudland streaming

Rivers of faery light, dewdrop on dewdrop falling,

Star-fire of silver flames, lighting the dark beneath?

And what enraptured hosts burn on the dusky heath!

Come thou away with them for Heaven to Earth is calling.

These are Earth’s voice—her answer—spirits thronging.

Come to the Land of Youth: the trees grown heavy there

Drop on the purple wave the starry fruit they bear.

Drink: the immortal waters quench the spirit’s longing.

Art thou not now, bright one, all sorrow past, in elation,

Made young with joy, grown brother-hearted with the vast,

Whither thy spirit wending flits the dim stars past

Unto the Light of Lights in burning adoration.


Dedication

– Aleister Crowley
We two, crag-perched, have watched the moon revive

The drowsy glaciers, and strike sharp upon

Black precipice of ice, and columned stone,

And seen the sun’s first arrows glance, and drive

The stars from their pavillion, like a hive

Stirred by the lightning. The resistless sun

Shatters the crags; and every bastian,

With splintered rock and icicle alive,

Seems to delight in mourning. This we saw,

Alone, together, on the mountain’s edge.

And now, though shadows on Arolla sink,

And old Mont Collom’s icy cliffs withdraw,

Clear memory pencils out the little ledge,

And bends of friendship forge a fresher link.


THE CAP AND BELLS

– W.B. Yeats
The jester walked in the garden:

The garden had fallen still;

He bade his soul rise upward

And stand on her window-sill.
It rose in a straight blue garment,

When owls began to call:

It had grown wise-tongued by thinking

Of a quiet and light footfall;
But the young queen would not listen;

She rose in her pale night-gown;

She drew in the heavy casement

And pushed the latches down.
He bade his heart go to her,

When the owls called out no more;

In a red and quivering garment

It sang to her through the door.
It had grown sweet-tongued by dreaming

Of a flutter of flower-like hair;

But she took up her fan from the table

And waved it off on the air.
‘I have cap and bells,’ he pondered,

‘I will send them to her and die’;

And when the morning whitened

He left them where she went by.
She laid them upon her bosom,

Under a cloud of her hair,

And her red lips sang them a love-song

Till stars grew out of the air.
She opened her door and her window,

And the heart and the soul came through,

To her right hand came the red one,

To her left hand came the blue.
They set up a noise like crickets,

A chattering wise and sweet,

And her hair was a folded flower

And the quiet of love in her feet.

Ifantokosmos (woven world)

We may disappear for a few days early next week as we transfer to our new provider; forewarned you have been. The site will start a new evolution then, hopefully with a bit more interactiveness.

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Friday Faire:
Marijuanlogues

Arresting the Stone Buddha

Kristi Stassinopoulou “We are flying”

The Lyrics of Kristi Stassinopoulou

Art: Illustrations by Harry Clarke (Thanks Mike!)
Have A Happy Weekend!

Gwyllm

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Marijuanalogues

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Arresting the Stone Buddha
A merchant bearing fifty rolls of cotton goods on his shoulders stopped to rest from the heat of the day beneath a shelter where a large stone Buddha was standing. There he fell asleep, and when he awoke his goods had disappeared. He immediately reported the matter to the police.
A judge named O-oka opened court to investigate. “That stone Buddha must have stolen the goods,” concluded the judge. “He is supposed to care for the welfare of the people, but he has failed to perform his holy duty. Arrest him.”
The police arrested the stone Buddha and carried it into the court. A noisy croud followed the statue, curious to learn what kind of a sentence the judge was about to impose.
When O-oka appeared on the bench he rebuked the boisterous audience. “What right have you people to appear before the court laughing and joking in this manner? You are in contempt of court and subject to a fine and imprisonment.”
The people hastened to apologize. “I shall have to impose a fine on you,” said the judge, “but I will remit it provided each one of you brings one roll of cotton goods to the court within three days. Anyone failing to do this will be arrested.”
One of the rolls of cloth which the people brought was quickly recognized by the merchant as his own, and thus the thief was easily discovered. The merchant recovered his goods, and the cotton rolls were returned to the people.

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Kristi Stassinopoulou “We are flying”

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The Lyrics of Kristi Stassinopoulou

Ifantokosmos (woven world)
If you enter the woven world

you’ ll see many marvels

and like Alice in Wonderland

you’ ll wander in magic

If you enter the woven world

you won’t easily find a way out

and without Ariadne’s clue

you’ ll be trapped forever in the labyrinth


The days go by
the days go by by the waves

like an ancient ceremony

writing poems and playing

with the spiders and the lizards

making coffee for the visitors

on the beach
the days go by by the waves

in a sweet lazy immobility

watching the seagulls fishing

and the cormorans sunbathing on the rocks

talking with the sand, the read,

and the almirikia trees
day by day the sea embraces me gently

sinking me in a sweet, careless

non-existence

loosing myself in time

and my mind rests calmly
beyond the cape the world

the world still exists

beyond the cape the world

still exists without me
with the latest

perfume ads,

poor and meaningless

compared to nature’s scents…

with the straight,

white walls and the arches

of the “rooms to let”…

with the clothes that spoil

the body’s beauty…
and I, here

naked fairy

under the stalagmite tree

the days go by by the waves
like an ancient ceremony

the days go by

go by by the waves

Sol Invictus
Born in the heart of winter

Revived in the fires of June

I come and go on earth

Drawing the sun on his chariot

In a glorious ceremony

I dance to cherish his miracle

In the heart of the fire my picture

every sparkle of sweat my drop

I have many faces

All nations cherished me with fire

I have one homeland left on earth

One ceremony that survived time

Masquerades in sheepskin, light for me the fire

Rolling burning garlands down the slopes

I get carried away by the frenzied dance

Of the people jumping over the fires

Fragment Of Poems…. Archilochos

On The Music Box: Oxycanta

I have wanted to cover Archilochos’s poetry for quite awhile… He is practically unknown now, but at one time, he was indeed the Bees Knees for classical works, right after Homer… Sadly, most of his work is in fragments at this point. Maybe one day a cache of his writings will be discovered…. All the comments are extracted from various writers… sorry, no listings of who were available.
Thursday Afternoon – Left Coast of Turtle Island.
Gwyllm

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The Fragments of Archilochos’s poetry give us a personal, intimate view of this 7th century B.C. poet’s world. This poet-soldier’s poetry and life reflect his era-a time of Greek colonization (not always peaceful), political, social, and economic unrest. Archilochos was the younger son of an aristocratic father and a slave mother. He participated in attempts by his native island of Paros colonize the island of Thasos. Archilochos’s poetry reveals him as a sensitive, superb poet who used his poetry to articulate strong opinions about war, love, religion, sex, poetry, politics, and the human condition. He was a survivor: one poem brags about fleeing the battlefield and living to fight another day-a radical departure from the ‘Homeric code’ of values which prized a warrior’s honor. ‘Our earliest extant example of lyric poetry, Archilochos’s poetry represents a dramatic departure from the Iliad and Odyssey’s ‘epic’ style.
Be bold! That’s one way

of getting through life.

So I turn upon her

and point out that,

faced with the wickedness

of things, she does not shiver.

I prefer to have, after all,

only what pleases me.

Are you so deep in misery

that you think me fallen?

You say I’m lazy, I’m not,

nor any of my kin-people.

I know how to love those

who love me, how to hate.

My enemies I overwhelm

with abuse. The ant bites!
The oracle said to me:

“Return to the city, reconquer.

It is almost in ruins.

With your spear give it glory.

Reign with absolute power,

the admiration of men.

After this long voyage,

return to us from Gortyne.”

Pasture, fish, nor vulture

were you, and 1, returned,

seek an honest woman

ready to be a good wife.

I would hold your hand,

would be near you, would have run

all the way to your house.

I cannot. The ship went down,

and all my wealth with it.

The salvagers have no hope.

You whom the soldiers beat,

you who are all but dead,

how the gods love you!

And I, alone in the dark,

I was promised the light.

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Fragment of a Poem by Archilochus

Back away from that, [she said]

And steady on [ ]
Wayward and wildly pounding heart,

There is a girl who lives among us

Who watches you with foolish eyes,
A slender, lovely, graceful girl,

Just budding into supple line,

And you scare her and make her shy.
O daughter of the highborn Amphimedo,

I replied, of the widely remembered

Amphimedo now in the rich earth dead,
There are, do you know, so many pleasures

For young men to choose from

Among the skills of the delicious goddess
It’s green to think the holy one’s the only.

When the shadows go black and quiet,

Let us, you and I alone, and the gods,
Sort these matters out. Fear nothing:

I shall be tame, I shall behave

And reach, if I reach, with a civil hand.
I shall climb the wall and come to the gate.

You’ll not say no, Sweetheart, to this?

I shall come no farther than the garden grass.
Neobulé I have forgotten, believe me, do.

Any man who wants her may have her.

Aiai! She’s past her day, ripening rotten.
The petals of her flower are all brown.

The grace that first she had is shot.

Don’t you agree that she looks like a boy?
A woman like that would drive a man crazy.

She should get herself a job as a scarecrow.

I’d as soon hump her as [kiss a goat’s butt].
A source of joy I’d be to the neighbors

With such a woman as her for a wife!

How could I ever prefer her to you?
You, O innocent, true heart and bold.

Each of her faces is as sharp as the other,

Which way she’s turning you never can guess.
She’d whelp like the proverb’s luckless bitch

Were I to foster get upon her, throwing

Them blind, and all on the wrongest day.
I said no more, but took her hand,

Laid her down in a thousand flowers,

And put my soft wool cloak around her.
I slid my arm under her neck

To still the fear in her eyes,

For she was trembling like a fawn,
Touched her hot breasts with light fingers,

Straddled her neatly and pressed

Against her fine, hard, bared crotch.
I caressed the beauty of all her body

And came in a sudden white spurt

While I was stroking her hair.”

This poem only survives in fragments. It was written by Archilochus, a famous Greek lyric poet of the seventh century. Later Greeks thought he was the greatest poet after Homer, and placed him as an equal beside Pindar and Sophocles. He was especially famous as a writer of invectives, but wrote with a boisterous lust for the joys of life. He was born on Paros, in the Cyclades, but joined a colony on Thasos. He apparently traveled from place to place, driven by economic necessity and wanderlust, until he finally returned to Paros, where he was killed in a fight. His great genius stemmed from his ability to manipulate a number of meters, and he is credited with perfecting iambic metrical forms.
His tumultuous life and a deep sense of anger permeate his poems, which were brutally abusive to his enemies and only slightly less so to his friends. He was particularly incensed with Lycambes, who promised him his daughter Neoboule and then unjustly broke the engagement. The story goes that Archilochus produced such a vicious, torrential outpouring of invective that Lycambes and his family hanged themselves from the shame.
This poem seems to fit within this series of poems, as the poetic persona, presumably Archilochus, seduces a virgin of Neoboule’s house, perhaps a younger sister. Despite its fragmentary nature, it is fairly clear what is going on. The seducer promises the young girl that he will spare her virginity, and not go “all the way”. The “divine thing” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse, and the gate and garden imagery are also common sexual metaphors for women’s bodies. Some scholars argue based on the fragmentary last lines that he does not keep his promise. I, however, interpret them to describe the culmination of intercrural sex, and therefore the girl’s maidenhead is intact, even though deflowering her might fit within the context of insulting the family. The historical context of the poem is too uncertain for it to be allowed to influence its interpretation, and based on what survives, I think the lover does do as promised.
The interest of this poem for this exhibit, besides its beauty as a piece of erotic writing, is in its frank description of a realistic sexual encounter with a sympathy for the female participant. The young virgin is presented in a way that was probably as familiar to the men of Archilochus’ time as it is today. She is shy, reluctant, but curious; it is hard to say what moral stigma, if any, might have been attached to a man who seduced an inexperienced and vulnerable girl. She is worried for her chastity and reputation, but her would-be lover assures her that he will stop short of deflowering her, merely initiating her into the joys of love.
Although the lover’s final goal may be to insult the virgin’s family by attacking her chastity, the actual description of the act is tender and erotic. He is gentle with her, laying her down on a cloak in the soft grass (grass is a potent sexual metaphor for the female pubis, and the image of blooming flowers is a clear connection to the girl’s fresh readiness and virginity) and caressing her breasts and body. Although the girl is described as “still with fear like a fawn”, further connecting her with nature, her lover seems to try to ease her fear with his caress, not heighten it, and we do not find tones of domination or taming in the surviving portion, as we see so often in the Attic records.
Although this poem was composed fully two hundred years before the popularity of Athena Parthenos in Athens, it still demonstrates the same Greek ideal of feminine beauty. Archilochus says that he prefers he freshness and innocence to the “over-ripe” maturity of Neoboule, who, we may interpret, has been around the block a few times. While he is undoubtedly trying to flatter her so that she will give in to his seduction, his sincere description of her loveliness seems to show that a young, naïve, inexperienced girl was something to be coveted. The attraction of a proper citizen girl was in her potential, her ripeness, and her lack of experience; she was fresh and new for only one man. The kylix, with its explicit scenes and grotesque humor, was perhaps the least titillating piece in the exhibit. Contrast it with the young, if not virginal, girl of the tondo—she fits in to a poem like this far better than her unfortunate colleagues. As we have seen in the other pieces of the exhibit, in the ancient Greek world, the promise and potential for sex was often as titillating and erotic as pornographic depictions of the actual act.