19 Sep From Carrion de los Condes we rose early to be on the road by 7.15am to start the walk to Ledigos, around 26km. Still on the Meseta follow the road along a dirt path lined with trees in places, for which we were grateful. Our room in the old building was very quaint. There was a separate room at the front with a double bed and a window. We had been taking turns at having a separate room and tonight was Pilgrim Pauline’s turn. There was an old baby cot in our space, we made jokes about having a ghost baby to look after since the two of them were baby nurses. The bathroom was at the end of the corridor so a little distance to trot. Being industrious after our 26km, we got our dusty clothes washed and hung out in the hot afternoon sun. Everything was soon dry.
Author: Clarity
I live and work in a beautiful place with a river and beach and the wild west coast. Having grown up without a TV, as a family we read a lot. This lead to me writing a lot which in turn lead to a habit of writing poetry to make sense of my world. My grandmother painted. Lovely oils and water colours which she encouraged me to try. For many years I did very little, life was not conducive to creativity until came a time when life turned on its head and suddenly I found expression in creativity with the Intentional Creativity method taught by Shiloh Sophia McCloud in her Color of Women training. So here I am, writer, artist, ritual maker showing my offerings to the world.
Paris
Well, eating my words. A bit like cardboard with a side of dust. For years I have sworn that I would never visit France. I have refused to buy any French produce, cheese or wine. While it has been many years since a group of French terrorists sank the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior in the Auckland harbor, killing a man in the exercise, it happened in my country. They got away with it. It hurt my heart and soul very very badly. So I swore that I would not support a country that these people came from in any way. I have been pretty staunch about that.
I did not book our flights for this trip, that was PilgrimBrenda and was not impressed when I found we were to spend a couple of days in Paris. Quite unimpressed. However, over the year of planning the idea grew on me.
We arrived on Friday afternoon, via Dubai, a journey of 32 hours from the time I left home. Jet lagged and hungry and dehydrated we found the trains, worked out how to buy tickets, and set off into the intricacy of the Paris metro. Apart from a weird thing with a man who seemed to be helping us and a wrong train, we found our way back to the point we had missed the direction, the right train and found our hotel. Thank you Google maps!
A client of mine hearing I was going to be in Paris suggested visiting Sainte Chappell. We Googled it and discovered there was a petite classical concert and bought tickets. Probably not smart when we had been on the go for so many hours.
Sainte Chappell is beautiful. Stained glass that is breathtaking. Part of the original French palace complex, close to the Seine. Gothic in style, the huge arching ceilings and the stained glass is pretty special. We looked and enjoyed, had dinner in a small cafe across the road and then returned for the music. The group of 3 violins, a 1794 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini played by Frédérik Moreau, a cello and the voice of soprano Cécile Besnard made for a stunning evening with amazing the acoustics.
Wandering back to the hotel, the age of the buildings and the history of the city made me realize how young we are as a country and a people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Next post, our trip to Chartres.
Rising Tide
“I flow,” she said, flicking a wave up with her finger. “To the depths,” she said, rolling smoothly over the wave and descending to the ocean floor. Then rising from the depths of herself, allowing the water to sheet from her body, she drifts up to the beckoning moon that lights up her surface and calls for her tides to rise.
She is rising still and every moon she sweeps to the top of the sands licking at the dune plants. In between full moons She will hold back, chasing crabs, washing up offerings, lazily playing with waves. Tidal movement flows over her and I, cleansing and nourishing with the healing of the water.
She rises in a daily offering to humanity.
12′ x 12′ acrylic on canvas
Light Source
Unwind the bindings
clip the tight stitches
release everything from bondage
allow it to move.
Let the song erupt, the tears to flow
move and shake
hear the heartbeat of life
gyrate, slide and listen
sway slowly to that unique rhythm
of walking your own path.
Know the spirals of life
follow them into the centre of the deep mystery
let it explode like stars into your being
wear the galaxy like your favourite dress
go on, let her out, bursting forth
this foot stomping, hip swaying,
light bearing Mystery of life.
This is what the Divine created
a coded map, a blueprint,
a light in the world that cannot be hidden.
Come on, the sea is calming
The wind is steady, unfurl the canvas
and light up the world.
Invitation to the Edge
Are you brave enough to stand at the very edge
Peeking over into the void of all that there is
Into the potential of yourself
Where your edges come to play?
This is the place of passion
And the place of pain
Rest here a while as there is work to do.
The work of unwinding the heart and its vessels
The mind and its thoughts
The body and its stresses
It is time to unwind here at the edge
Pour the wine, there is food and great company
For we are a tribe of seekers
Looking for that place in our Being
That says Yes! This is where I need to be.
I offer you an invitation to rest here
At the edge of the universe
And sip wine and catch the ball
Of Red Thread when it comes your way.
Acrylic on canvas 48″x36″ (1220×920)
Weaver of Hearts
Weaver of Hearts of the Dragon-Hearted Tribe
She who is the weaver balanced on the edge
Pulls each thread tight as it passes under and over
Under and over again without tangling or leaving snarls
She wraps the thread of Being in and out
of the line dividing darkness and light.
Balanced like a tight rope walker above the abyss
Of the endless void with its sparkling darkness
And the crucible of bright heat of a molten sun
Warming the bright blue fabric rippling beneath
The veil of the universe.
She who gazes with compassion at the colourful threads
Her fingers flying to gather the breath of the dragon
Weaving, over and under, the ethereal magic into the hearts
Of the brave that waver on the edge of the wide universe
Waiting and open to her ministrations.
She who is the Weaver of Hearts casts about to
Gather those souls broken perfectly open
The spirit soaring through the darkness
Keening in anguish, broken threads trailing
There is strength to mend with her flying fingers.
When She who is the weaver of hearts hears that brave call of the soul
Taking more of the dragon’s breath she threads her needle
Aiming at the rift with quick stitches making intricate patterns
Tenderly pulling the edges of the gaping wound closed
Allowing the heart to back gracefully off the edge between darkness and light
She who gathers the shadows as she weaves
Picking them carefully from the lips of the wound
Tenderly sitting each pool of tears on the rim
Ushering them after the mended heart, creating a cushion to cradle
The heart that birthed it against the next rending of the fabric of Being.
She who is the Weaver of Hearts of the Dragon Hearted
Invites those who are not afraid of teetering on the brink
To embrace their brokenness and allow the light to shine
Through the weaving that will hold it together
While never quite closing the gap of lessons learned.
Then she settles,
to watch and wait,
for your next visit
To the edge of the Universe.
Array
She says: Array is on display. I am cloaked with the web of life of all Beings, seen and unseen. Trust that the strands may break sometimes and then be woven back into being by your Beloveds and the Creatrix of Life. This is a great adventure, holding space, being active, creating, heart held in a cloak of knowing, of gentleness. WE are on display, come, take my hand, be a part of the Array.
Acrylic on wood panel. 24″ x 48″
Moon Talker, Earth Walker
Quest – Become – Embody – Invent
Creating give a choice in how we react and respond to whatever is happening in the world. As an active participant in the creation of this world and how we desire to live in it.
As we awaken to the need to shape our future we understand there is a transition in stepping through the next portal and re-choosing life
Part of the quest to choosing a future is to retrieve lost parts. For some, like myself there is a tendency to smother the lost parts in a shame that belongs elsewhere. Letting go and allowing rejection that was cruel, being used, not respected, not treasured is the part of the path to being able to re-choose a different way of being. If we can leave the stories that define us behind, what then remains in front of us to walk into?
She says: “I am rooted in abundance and reaching for the stars. I am your sadness and your joy. I am your courage and your fear. We are together and loneliness is a state of mind. You do not listen well when you are stuck in this limbo of depression.
Mess is as mess does, so we shall just accept our limitations and keep forging forward. It is OK that we do not look like, act like, work like others.
The tree of life is rooted in the creation of the beginning of this earth and reaches for the stars, for the moon that breathes me. She pulls in the tides, heralds the seasons and brings the other side of light to life in the darkness. We are grounded and we know how to gaze at the moon and stars. We are of the cosmos, having an earth experience in this lifetime.
If we all embrace our strength and walk forward with authenticity, boldness, unafraid of the voices that try to pull behind, then we walk with freedom, healthful and strong under the gaze of the Devine.
Acrylic on 9mm ply panel. 24″ x 48″ (61x122cm)
Awen
Held by the fore-mothers. Relax into the cradle of their being, the cradle of the universe. Listen, learn, we are connected to all things.
Access is through lines of ancestors holding you and your spirit body. The energy field extends out beyond. Is there willingness to walk an authentic path? She is stretched into the universal web behind us, plugging into the energy both above and below in the matrix of all Beings, the conduit for transmission. Access is through being conscious of being plugged into the Divine Source.
The grandmothers bring the bowl of inspiration that you may drink deeply of their wisdom, knowledge and magical gifts. The three drops of inspiration show on our face. Remember the path, remember the journey, here is the bowl – drink
Acrylic on canvas. 40″ x 30″ (75x100cm)
Light Source
Unwind the bindings
clip the tight stitches
release everything from bondage
allow it to move.
Let the song erupt, the tears to flow
move and shake
hear the heartbeat of life
gyrate, slide and listen
sway slowly to that unique rhythm
of walking your own path.
Know the spirals of life
follow them into the centre of the deep mystery
let it explode like stars into your being
wear the galaxy like your favourite dress
go on, let her out, bursting forth
this foot stomping, hip swaying,
light bearing Mystery of life.
This is what the Divine created
a coded map, a blueprint,
a light in the world that cannot be hidden.
Come on, the sea is calming
The wind is steady, unfurl the canvas
and light up the world.
Acrylic on Canvas. 24×48″
Visions of Clarity 