Taking a wee break...

... from Blogland, as I retreat for the next couple of weeks with Susannah Conway...

Hoping I'll return renewed and invigorated...

xxx

Decided to share with Focus on Life as I am hope-full - this week's theme :-)

Focus on Life Week 46: Faith(ful)

One thing I have faith in is Family.

Here's ours from a family holiday in Yorkshire 12 year ago!! My dad's taking the picture ;-)

Yes, A LOT has changed in 12 years, but the deep bonds between us haven't...

Wordless Wednesday: Ancient faerie magic...

Twisted hawthorn tree at Rufford Abbey

Sharing here.

Word for the Week

Last week was a tad manic, so I didn't draw a Word for the Week - I needed to stay with Peace...

Hoping this week is calmer, I draw this from my Rediscovery Pack

Ahhh, this is a watchword for me! This is what to I strive to be in everything I do - from writing on this blog, to what I read, listen to, how I interact with people...

I hate anything fake - from people to handbags - but I love raw, authentic honesty. Hence I buy most gifts from Etsy rather than Ebay, listen to folk like Damien Rice rather than some manufactured pop boy band. It's why I seek out a local independent coffee shop, rather than Costa of Starbucks, why I read magazines like Flow and Uppercase, instead of Hello!

The rich, deep pink background has appeared a number of times on other Words for the Week - Love, Hope, Opportunity, Support - which seems fitting. There is a definite connection between all these powerful words!

I'll leave you with some great quotes about Authenticity, and my heartfelt wishes for a wonderful week :-)

Focus on Life Week 45: Grateful

November's prompts from Sally are words ending in '...ful'

I have soooo many things I am grateful for (I write down at least 5 every day...), so I figured I needed to make a collage...

November Full Moon Dreamboard

Making this Dreamboard felt a tad different, as I made a New Moon Dreamboard for the first time a couple of weeks ago, so the themes of the Reed Moon were very present - harmony, clarity and purpose - when I sat down to start it...

But as I look at the completed Dreamboard, I realize Samhain was probably more on my subconscious than I realized...

Left-hand page
There are several pages from old We'Moon diaries with a clear focus on words, rather than images...
Top left:

Blanket of Miracles

I stand on a blanket of miracles.

I am strange stuff and dark magic:

broken bones and black feathers,

chants, fire, wood and

so many tears.

Tears like drops of moonlight

along an evergreen path.

I am soft kisses and slick touch,

heavy and round,

like my grandmother.

I arch,

reciting fever prayers

to old forest gods,

breathing the rhythm,

and giving birth to the world.

This is no spell.

I am deep memories and 

lies long forgiven.

With tongue and teeth,

skin and spirit,

I drum.

I stand on my blanket of miracles

and dance, singing

I am 

the blood of my mothers,

dangerous knowledge,

fire and water and

salted bread.

I come to this place

to remember my beginning.

I come to this place

to honour my end.

Then I curl up

on my blanket of miracles,

exhausted,

to dream my daughters

into being.

Katharine Saunders 2012

Wow, what a poem!!!

Top right:

I, Wonder, say to you truly

all that we are

is just one motion of breath and divinity

rushing together - to fill the great lungs of life.

Let me stir in your body, this mystical cauldron,

where matter and spirit meet for a  moment -

the one long moment - of your life.

excerpt, Renee Hummel 2006

And a lovely image of the practice of Arati by Margaret Forbes 1996

There are two gorgeous images by Beth Wildwood - the wee owl tag I've attached the spine, and a gorgeous owl goddess, with the words 'sense of serenity' which a clipped from a magazine advert.

Bottom right:

A Dead Language

My tongue forks

a dead language,

one of owl.

My fragments 

have hidden

feathers

in broom closets

in the face

of Academy,

The War,

still.

Old ball and cannon

what's allowed

into this canon,

the precious words

of women

before,

yanked from the stacks.

The dead language shall rise - womanspeak the canary of seasons,

a land folding in on itself, creatrix - repairing the split.

excerpt, Shae Savoy 2012

Image The Bird Girls Denise Kester 2012

Right-hand page
Top left is a piece about Setting a Cup for Shadow 'For times of heart and mind meetings, conflict transformations, mediations, visioning and accountability processes and so forth' by rain crowe 2012, but it's too long to write out here. 

Top right: I've included the whole page from this month's We'moon diary as it's just too perfect. The stunning image is called 'Forest Madonna' by Barb Levine 2008.

Bottom right: Mother-Child Song by Amy L. Alley 2009, which I thought was ideal as they are blowing through reeds!

Other images: 'Keeping Vigil' by Anny Eastwood 2005, Nicola Taylor's business card, and a wee penny farthing sticker :-)

*****

Phew! I think this is THE longest post I've ever written! Thank you if you persevered to the end - you are a star *grin*

As always, I'd love to know what you see/feel when you see the Dreamboard, and do let me know if you've made one too!

PS The weekend and this week have been very busy and stressful, so I didn't draw a new Word for the Week - I still need to sit with Peace...