Seasons, Part 1

     As I have been reading in Celtic Inspirations: Essential Meditations and Texts (Inspirations Series) by Lyn Webster Wilde, the Celtic calendar is punctuated by seasonal festivities.  One that is coming up soon is Samhain, celebrated on November 1st.  For some, this is the start of the Celtic year. 

     This is when the days are getting shorter and the nights longer, and we feel that as darkness reigns, we are drawn to darker things. We remember our loved ones who have passed and contemplate our own death.

     At this time, the Celts would slaughter animals and preserve the meat for the winter.  We consider the coming winter and the challenges it brings.  Are we prepared?

     This is also a time when the veil between the Otherworld and our reality is thin.  Some practice divination, some share myths or scary stories, others commune with the ancestors.  In Scotland, those who are born around the time of Samhain are said to have the "sight."

(photo courtesy of pixabay.com)

    

A Beautiful Book

     Lately, I've been reading a beautiful book called Celtic Inspirations: Essential Meditations and Texts (Inspirations Series) by Lyn Webster Wilde.  By beautiful, I mean that every page is decorated with the most lovely illustrations and/or photos.  And Wilde's words are informative and inspiring.

     Some chapter headings include:  The Celtic Treasure Chest; Bards, Druids and Seers; Mystic Symbols; Heroes of the Spirit, and more.  It's something to savor right before I turn off the light at night.  Highly recommended!

Don't You Love Fall?

     Don't you love this time of year?  The cooler days, the changing angle of the sun, the colors of the leaves -- it's a beautiful time of year.

     As the leaves turn color, detach from the tree and fall, it reminds me to take stock of my life and see if there are things that I can let go of.  Perhaps it is simple as cleaning out a drawer or a closet, or it could be more internal, as in letting go of a habit, a thought-pattern, or an old grudge.  But before I can let something go, I need to acknowledge its purpose in my life and be thankful for the lessons I have learned from it. How did it color my life?  How did it bring new growth?  Next, I need to let it go as simply as a leaf falling from a branch.  Finally, I allow it to act as compost for these new ways of being.  Yes, this is a wonderful time of year. 

(photo courtesy of pixabay.com)

Life's Little Ironies

     Have you seen the movie Sully yet?  I highly recommend it!  I know some critics complained that there wasn't enough adversity to keep the movie going, but I disagree.  The psychological adversity -- what Sully and his co-pilot faced in their own minds -- was more than enough adversity, compiled with a grueling investigation by the Transportation Board.  Go see it.

     I enjoy life's little ironies.  Here's one.  The director of the movie Sully is a well-known Republican and conservative.  Here is a movie about a highly experienced pilot, with a logical, tactical mind, and cool-as-a-cucumber personality.  It was pointed out again and again that Sully's experience and cool-headedness are what saved the 155 passengers on board the plane.  And here we are in the United States facing an election for a new president -- choosing between one candidate who is experienced, with a logical, tactical mind, and a level-headed personality versus one who is . . . not. 

     Ironic, no?

(photo courtesy of pixabay.com)

Another OBG

     OBG -- That's "oldie but goodie."  I found another great book sitting on my bookshelf that I honestly don't remember reading.  I think I saw the movie, liked it a lot, and then bought the book with every intention of reading it . . . and didn't. 

     Either that, or my brain has completely lost those cells which recorded the memory of reading it.

     Anyway, the book is Contactby Carl Sagan.  The late, great, mellifluous-voiced Carl Sagan.  I miss hearing him say, "Billions and billions of worlds" in that sonorous baritone of his.  But I digress.

     If you want to read an intelligent, hopeful, and scientific science fiction book full of humanity and warmth, this is a good one to get.  I think I liked it better than the movie because it goes into the back stories of characters and talks about global movements in ways that are believable and optimistic. 

     Clearly, Sagan had great hope for humanity.  This book is a good antidote for reading the morning's headlines.

A Wonderful Poem (That Surprisingly Fits)

     Weren't you struck by the aptness of last week's poem?  I know it struck me between the eyes, and I was surprised that it was written across the planet from where I live, well over a hundred years ago.

     Yes, my mind is "spinning around/About carrying out a lot of useless projects," as Patrul Rinpoche wrote.  And, when you think of it, of what use are many of the things we do? 

     Self-promotion, branding, writing, posting, texting -- what's it all for?  Even writing a book -- really, it's less than a blip in all of existence.

     No, I'm not dwelling in the swamp of despair.  But I think there's something to be said for not constantly doing, or planning to do something, and just being. 

     As the poet wrote, "If you let go of everything . . . That's the real point!" 

     I think that's the whole point, and the starting point for anything of worth.  Think about it.

A Wonderful Poem (That Surprisingly Fits)

     Do you remember a few weeks ago I mentioned a great book on mindfulness?  It's called Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein.  (If you don't remember the post, you can read it here.)  I'm still working through the book; I'm finding it's not a fast read, but it's a worthwhile one.

     I was really struck the other day when I read this poem by a nineteenth century wandering Tibetan monk named Patrul Rinpoche.  If you get the book, you'll find it on page 310-311:

     For ages now you've been 
     Beguiled, entranced, and fooled by appearances.
     Are you aware of that?  Are you?
     Right this very instant, when you're
     Under the spell of mistaken perception
     You've got to watch out.
     Don't let yourself get carried away by this fake and empty life.

     Your mind is spinning around
     About carrying out a lot of useless projects:
     It's a waste!  Give it up!
     Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
     With never enough time to finish them,
     Just weighs down the mind.
     You're completely distracted
     By all these projects, which never come to an end,
     But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
     Don't be a fool: for once, just sit tight . . .

     If you let go of everything --
     Everything, everything --
     That's the real point!