Oblong Echo

If fuzzy memory serves me, I think I would have written this creative writing piece in the autumn of 2004... Except that I haven't taken the time to do so, (other then the first painting), I'd like to turn this into a graphic novel of some kind perhaps at some point. I did take the time in 2005 to break it down into pages, in terms of lay-out and was trying to plan out the images but if I were to follow through with the project I had in mind, I think I would need to create around 50 paintings or multi-media images... Can certainly be done, but with my idea-machine-over-excitement-impulsive-want-to-take-on-the-world....... I am working on focus and chewing on thing at a time.... or perhaps three or four things, but hey, it's better then what I was doing... Progress is progress, right?

OBLONG ECHO


I found out what happens when you jump down the Alice Hole…
Follow the white rabbit… I followed a snail instead
Rather the snail that changed and shifted…
Through room after room I became bigger and smaller
Never fall but fall forever until you meet yourself in the beginning…
it never happened because it always happened
meeting yourself in the mirror
never ending never ending never beginning so that it could happen
But something strange, something strange
something random and true
walk through the mirror
and can it ever feel true because it begins if it ends and it ends
when it begins
can it begin if it never ends
I will continue to do the things that I did as a child
I am all ages at once
And in comes the oblong man
Wobbling in an oblong way
Dickering and dackering,
dealing with the pecker checker
Questions create answers strange
open doors in walls between
when it rings
rooting and roving
water the well
help it grow help it grow
Exchange life for death
Exchange death for life
Exchange
Lift high fly high live forever life
Am I the wandering fool
Wandering wondering learning
Diving in
Am I the wandering fool
who strolls where others fear to stride
Follow the sound of the river
Dive in the well dive in
Follow the flow of the river
Keep balance walking in an oblong way
Wander away slide, slide away slide
Roving flowing following the gypsy ghost lights
down towards the light
at the bottom there is something shiney
swimming something shiney
something shines
swim something shines and winks at me
reaching hands toward the light
Reawaken
Wake the fire within
Stars above
Dance all night
Stars above
The rabbit hole
Where does it end up
The hole that doesn't end
wanders around around doesn't end
Wandering round around sound surround resound
Swimming resounding around the light
Catch the light
Wander awake
I can see sleep walkers
Wake up
I am awake
Walking through the mirror
The dream that never ends
Doorway
This is twighlight
Twigs and wigs will settle down
able to the maple tree
dance between
flanked by hot and cold and the winds that blow away
leaves and blades
the blade that doesn't cut
found the blade that cuts
and the trail echoed through centuries
illusion or delusion
which side of the mirror did you come from anyway?
Which side of the moon watches you sleep?
Does the moon watch you wake?
Watch the sun; does it turn you blind?
Which side of the sun do you like better?
I prefer all directions at once
All elements at once
I am the dancing shadow
She who dreams and whispers in the in between
She who helps the dead man cross over
The river styx was my childhood companion
And I know and I speak with the river man
He speaks to me when I sleep
And sings to me when I am awake
I fall into his voice likened to the murmur of the river
As I walk through the mirror chasing mirrors
falling through mirrors
I awake
Light in my eyes
Can't see
Too bright
Light in my eyes
And the walls are closing in
When I awake at night
I like the night because then I can see the lights
Swimming towards the bottom
I find the river
Sister pulls me aside
Air that lifts
lifts me high
Coming towards the earth
I fall awake
I awake
Fallen through the mirror of myself
I awake
And find myself likened to the marionette
Marionette
These programs choke and rip while they winde in the wind
I like Marionette when she's stands 12 feet tall and opens her eyes
The program that bends programs that bind
Laughter dances across the web
Marionette is bending like music
bends with the oblong man living beneath the leaves that weave above
laughing water
the river man awoke the marionette when he set fire to her strings
fire danced burn away strings that bind and winde
little wee ones chide the childe
so what did the wandering well tell me when it whispered away in the
wind that wound?
Don't be afraid of the spirit fires that burn from within
The spirit of time is nothing when sped by the spirit of love
Love that has lit the fire within the water
the fire that doesn't drown and dances with life
it is moon fire
dancing like the snake charmer's eyes when laughter reveals the wisdom of tides
I and me and myself walked backwards following the flow of the river
Breaking through the mirror
The moon and the sun were one
when the oblong man stood in the sand and sang to the tides
tides that turn and spin like the light within
and I dare not swim to awake in my bed
I don't want to be safe within the dream
I want to live in Rabbit's hole that looks so black from afar
go within it is light and whole
And dreams got caught in my mouth when I tried to speak
And I fall
Through the dream
That falls through my mouth
When I tried to speak
And I never stopped loving you
touched the moss around my feet
caress the air I sing
swim the seven seas
flying through the dreams
tend my fires so I won't stumble in dreams that tumble
happily ever after happens somehow
go between when it never ends echoing on and on ever in the in between
of the undertow
the candle fell
in the house that never was
stars twinkling twirling and whirling falling forever
landed in the field that didn't end
in the vision of the dream in the secret forest
Pandora's box was hidden in the basement of the house that never was
that landed in the field that didn't end in the vision of the dream in
the secret grove where they tore down the trees to build the house to
fill with greed and bleed the man that never dies
And the man stood on the box
Stood on the box that lives in the house that hid
And Pandora's box silently screamed in the dream that keeps you sane
And it doesn't end because it didn't begin
Listen like the oblong man
Swim between
The walls are breaking down the box
Programs that bend and sway in the wind
when the marionette burns her strings
singing
dreams stumble from my mouth when I try to speak
sitting
I watch the Cheshire cat
Watching
I sit on top of the mirror
Dreams tumble from my mouth when I try to speak
When I try to speak
When I try to speak
Dreams topple from my mouth when I try to speak
When I try to speak
When I try to speak
Echo
Never ending because it never begins because it never ends
Flow away, drift away, caught in the currents
Tales that never end
Echo
The mystery is calling out
Dreams that tumble from my mouth when I try to speak…
Echo
…and it never ends and it never ends and it….
Echo
Dreams get caught in my mouth when I try to speak
I am she who dreams forever because it never ends
Never ends
Cycle the dreams of seasons of changing spirit alignment
And the mystery fell from my mouth when I tried to speak
Who will save the fire when the candle falls


I am the marionette
Who will catch me when I cut my strings
Will I fall or can I stand on my own
It's the question at hand
I never choose to be a marionette
But somehow the dreams that fall from my mouth
Caught around my ankles and I begin to swim
And something pulled me into the current and I lost adrift
In an open sea that caught me and tossed me
I am the marionette
Coming into realization of being
We are
all really one
of many of one of many of one of many
And we seem to contradict ourselves
But existence defies itself
And I am the marionette
Dance and you will set yourself free
Because the strings can only twist and tighten so much
Before they snap
And I am the marionette woken by the keys

And I can try
and will try
Until the winds find their home
How erratic
It was perfectly timed

Twilight Between Sound

Creative Writing Piece
I am not actually sure what year it was when I first wrote this, but I think it was in 2004, possibly 2003 but I can't really remember for sure. Anyways, I suppose trying to remember the literal date I wrote this really isn't relevant... I had been working on developing it into a stage production but have since dropped that due to hurtles I was running into at the time. Who knows, maybe I'll dust off the stage version again at a later date.... We'll see where the river flows...


TWILIGHT BETWEEN SOUND

In the twilight between sound
The place that is the beginning and the end
The end that is the beginning…
The place that is everything and nothing
A place that is so full of sound
It is silent
In thought, and, memory….

In twighlight
We dream
This is where we live
In twighlight
We live
Because this is where we dream
In twighlight
We are…

This is where our hearts live
This is where our souls create
In dreaming I die to live

Between twighlight and stars,
Between sun, moon, and earth,
Between sunset and sunrise,
Between shadow and mist;
In between time and thought…

To rise

A conversation
Between energy now called stars
A dream
Between time,
where the birth of all things exists;
In a dance of our minds
The vibration is the experience
In dreaming

A conversation
Between energies
We dance
This is where are souls live
We dream
We dance

Twighlight
GodS create
Made in the image of
Souls create
Made in the image of
We create

A conversation
Between minds
Between energies
We dance
Between dreams
Between time
Dance

A conversation

Some would say that raven made the world one day
But raven and crow talk in riddles and mysteries
They contradict themselves
Raven is mischief, wisdom and creation
Crow is justice, laughter and wisdom

One day a creature laughed
A creature that knew not what it was
It was both white and it was black but never both
A creature that would one day be called raven
It danced with joy at this new feeling
This skin
It had acquired
This was kNew
Coyote used talk about it
But Coyote wasn't' always known for telling a straight tale
This creature on a journey to self discovery
An ancient babe
An energy within Skin
And raven danced and danced and laughed one day
And out popped
A squawk
And feathers a lot
A little joke raven played on itself
Little one to tease and taunt him
And Crow gave a squawk and a laugh
And off he was
New adventures between sound and twighlight

In Dreaming....

I wrote this approximately when I was 22 or 23, I am 34 now, so I guess it's been a long time. Trippy how time flies because it feels like just yesterday....

In dreaming...
Once upon the mists of time, we wandered off the beaten path. The trees shivered with a gentle light; a kindred to a flame in the night. We listened to the stories that Gaia told when the River sang to the Moon.

She told us once of a time in the long ago, which direction, she did not know. By the four corners she said they would come, one to meet the other, brothers and sisters, meeting for the first time again and again; brothers sisters who always knew without knowing.

One day, brothers and sisters; they fight and Gaia cries from the confines of her dreams. Worlds change and swirl and one day we come into a time new and familiar both; a time when the trees, you can barely hear their dreams and their gentle light has gone out.

The Ancients are asleep and the land is tearing up; Gaia whispers in our dreams …change, I feel a change in the winds; the directions are coming together …for the dreams speak; speak of a chance to change the world…let's tell our stories, stories of the ever in the in between of the long ago …

...so the stars do dance with the spirit lights, while raven follows the moon's daughter down to the waterside …awake awake …so they followed the sound …the wild ones danced and played …the muses woke the Sphynx, while Luna 's children whispered and sang into the wind… by mountain and river; the calling on, the calling out…

Regeneration Body Cream Recipe

The following recipe is quoted from:  Organic Body Care Recipes: 175 Homemade Herbal Formulas for Glowing Skin & a Vibrant Self by Stephanie Tourles.

I love this recipe; I work with my hands all the time as a multi disciplinary artist. My hands had become like sandpaper, it only took two applications of this cream for my hands to become baby soft, I was so stunned. 

Based on my understanding of the research I have done into the individual ingredients (which I recommend anyone making this cream should do so they understand the relationship between the ingredients), this cream should also be good for preventing stretch marks on pregnant women.

 I did alter this recipe based on my research, but I don't know where I put that recipe, so I included notes based off my memory of what I did differently.

Rich & Royal Regeneration Flower Cream

This is an intensely fragrant, luxurious cream fit for a queen! Though the recipe makes only a small amount, a little goes a long way. The exotically aromatic essential oils & rose hip seed base oil are healing & nourishing & act as a cellular regenerators. The natural & therapueutic floral essence of this cream transcends on irritating synthetic fragrance any day.

2 tbsp almond, soybean or macadamia nut base oil (I used almond, but added extra virgin coconut oil because it is antifungal & antibacterial)

2 tsp rose hip seed base oil

1 1/2 tsp beeswax

1 tbsp distilled water or rose, rose geranium or neroli hydrosol (I used rose water from the indian store)

1 small vitamin E oil capsule (optional) (I didn't do this because after researching all the other ingredients, I decided it wasn't necessary but did include some olive instead because olive oil absorbs really well into the skin because it's the closest thing to the oil our body produces)

10 drops lavender or geranium essential oil (I went with lavender)

10 drops neroli essential oil (type of orange oil; any orange oil will work, but be forewarned that this is only suitable to use for winter or night time use in the summer because it will increase photosensitivity; but this oil in combination with the properties of the other eq's & oils, butters etc is part of what makes it so highly regenerative)

5-10 drops ylang ylang essential oil

(I am sure I also blended in some cocoa butter & shae butter, even though the recipe didn't call for it, after researching the ingredients, I felt this would be complimentary but also I just really wanted to try it but I don't remember what ratios I figured out to keep it in balance with the rest of the recipe; but I have to find my original notes to see if I am right, but my guess would have been that if I did do that, probably 1 tbsp each or something).

HEAT:
In a small saucepan over low heat or in a double boiler, warm the base oils and beeswax until the wax is just melted. In another pan, warm the water or hydrosol.

COOL:
Remove both pans from heat and allow their contents to cool almost to body temperature, until the oils/wax mixture just begins to thicken but is still liquid.

BLEND:
Very quickly, drizzle the hydrosol into the oils/wax mixture while stirring or whisking rapidly. (Unlike many of the other cream & lotion recipes, this recipe doesn't require a blender, though an extra pair of hands is helpful at this juncture). Continue rapidly stirring the cream for 2 to 4 minutes, or until a pale-yellow emulsion forms. Pierce the vitamin E capsule (if using) and squeeze the contents into the cream, add the eq's (essential oils) and rapidly stir for another 4-5 minutes or until the mixture is cool. This recipe really gives your forearm a workwork! You should now have a moderately thick, shiny cream.

PACAKAGE & COOL:
Spoon cream into a beautiful storage container - it looks best in a cobalt-blue glass jar. The product should be cool enough to allow you to cap the jar immediately so none of the volatile, rejuvenating essential oil products can escape into the air.

Allow the cream to set & synergize, for about an hour prior to use. No refrigeration is required if the cream is used within 30 days. It will last for 3-6 months if refrigerated.

Note: It's the water that makes it last that length of time, if you want it to last longer, then don't add the water. The water just gives a really interesting refreshing quality when you apply the cream to your skin, but I dont' think it's essential to the healing powers of the product.

Application Tips:
This cream is highly concentrated; you'll need only a pea-sized amount to cover the face & throat & a little more to cover the decollete & breasts if you wish. Before applying, first rub the cream between your palms to warm it, then massage it into the skin.

Stretch marks can be prevented if this cream is used regularly as the body changes are occurring that would normally cause stretch marks. So for example, if a pregnant women uses this cream through the entire pregnancy (perhaps altered slightly to the sensitivities that pregnant women have), it would for sure prevent 90% of the stretch marks maybe more.

If you take the time to study the individual ingredients & begin to understand how they function with the body, you can start to make your recipes for specific needs.

At the Crossroads

Creative writing by April-Anna, March 4th, 2013
Continued from Lódrúne at the Crossroads: 
http://theartofapril-anna.blogspot.ca/2013/02/lodrune-at-crossroads.html

"Once upon a time goes on and on...the tale isn't finished, as she shakes off the cobwebs of sleep, the moon's daughter has lit the candle, She Who Dreams is weaving the web, the story never stays the same... 

Ancients morph, times cycle through, she never stays the same as she makes her way through time, she sees the cycles, patterns of the weave... She's listening through dreams, transitioning through time... 

One day, she awakens with a shock, the moon's daughter has awoken, surfacing, puzzle pieces coming together over time...  Letting go, the oracle sees, the oracle hears, the oracle feels, the oracle breaths, the oracle speaks.... Spirits are whispering... There's a caw on the winds, wings are heard overhead... 

Du muze is walking away from the old witche of the river, he is leaving the old women behind at the crossroads, walking away from the crossroads, he walked a long road... The moon's shadow at his back, the black wolf silently follows, just outside of the peripheral, the raven watches... and this piper keeps singing, walking along the road at night, he's singing, the stars are so bright... 

The mysteries are listening as the spirits whisper to one another;  did he ever hear the tale that the olde people told? There once was a black wolf and a white wolf, then the black wolf ate the white wolf, not knowing the joke was on the black wolf, the white wolf allowed itself to be absorbed.... The black wolf was pleased... The wolf you feed is the wolf that wins... at least, this is what the black wolf believes.... 

The moon's daughter is awakening, she's been wandering, following the spirit winds, she listens to the spirit winds, she rides the spirit winds.... Surfacing crystal clear, awake and asleep, asleep and awake, awake and asleep, she awakens...  but after the first time, you never really go back to sleep when time is unraveling... 

Call your energy home, call yourself home, center the soul, awaken the soul, walk with truth and clarity, as consciousness hits the ground, hit the ground running... The winds have been changing directions, first they go this way, then they go that way.... Like a leaf on the wind, one can never be sure where they will end up, but isn't that part of the fun? One says to the other, one must remember we came here for the adventures..... 

So once upon a dream; when first awakening, the moons' daughter was greatly confused, such is how things go when ancients come out of the deep dark sleep..... Cycles of time unwind, through cycles of time she moved, through cycles of time she moves, through cycles of time she arrives, like a shape shifter, taking one form after another, never the same, yet much carries through, these echoes we can't escape.... 

So ride the river, move with the wind, dance with the fey lights.... 

One day, in another time and yet the same place, the moon's daughter lived on the edge of the forest with the Sphynx and Luna... Ancients coming awake, over time realizing, unwinds, she doesn't know her own power, she doesn't know all that she is.... She had no idea the power of her mind, she had no idea, much like a child who does not know it's own strength, she never knew she frightened anyone... 

It broke her heart when she heard the news; truly, her heart is a gentle one, she would never intentionally harm an ant, even when they were biting her... Darn red ants, don't they know, they can't have all the blackberries on the bush? Sharing is good.... Sharing brings abundance to all, but some do not know this, what do you do when the world is driven mad with greed? 

In the very near and far, he arrived at the end of summer, he arrived on the winds of the warm islands, another brother from lifetimes before... The hour was growing late, the party had started, the moon's daughter witnessed the many star crossed lover's uniting... a warrior, he came to find his lover, his lover is kindred to the moon's daughter... His lover was the warrior sister who initiated the moon's daughter in the eight trigram palm... The warrior had never met this sister from another lifetime, but he remembered her, recognized her soul, names hold power, the mysteries hummed when he spoke to her another name, helping time unwind.... another sign of the tribes gathering.... 

Ancient memory is a fuzzy thing... The warrior from the warm islands, he sees the moon's daughter and names her of the volcanoes of his homeland, he names her for the fires he sees within her... so many names through time and space, so many incarnations, how can one even keep track? 

The moon's daughter sighs, she won't let one time and place define her... as time unwinds, the story is only just beginning.... turn the page, turn the page, what will happen next? what will happen next? The mysteries whisper to the spirits..... "