An invocation.......

all-pervading energy penetrating my veins

leave me with your lingering vitality.

i feel you burning in me,

but your flames are tumultuous,

leaving me in disarray.

perennial fire....

gentle with your kindling.

keep me warm,

let me sense your luster

when my soul is darkened

and my body destitute,

let me flow in your current

above the smoke and soot

no longer stifled and gasping for air

but basking in your light.

magic, myth and mystery .......

There is science,

There is religion,

But the modern world is done with magic, myth, and mystery.



But there is magic in the body,myth in the mind and mystery in the heart and soul.



Now we are of an intellectual age, we think we have the answers,
that the mind is capable of understanding how the world and all life works.

Wrapped up in studying life and nature we are forgetting to live it.

The modern mind is too sceptical, it requires evidence not experience.
It needs the words and work of others to judge against its own.

So we get stuck just using our heads, distancing ourselves with critique and analysis.

Yet the mind stretches far beyond our head and our exercised rationality.
There is the subconscious full of the baffling and bizarre,
there are our bodily senses, our instincts and premonitions.
But we suppress these functions, they are too untamed, too random and illogical.

We fear our intuition-our knowing without knowledge,
to be guided by it is far too superstitious and deluded.
We deny its simplicity- the possibility to act without complex thought.

Allow a little mystery and a little magic,
for the mind will always be unsatisfied,
its constant doubting causing hesitation,
letting life just slip by.

In search of equanimity......

Caught up in the waves of emotion and bodily sensations,
i can feel like i am drowning.......
But little by little i practice to float amongst the white horses and choppy waters,
I find space and rest though the mind and body are cluttered and busy.

i long for fusion, for balance, for sensing that bead of peace amongst the turmoil. i know that is must be possible because there would be no awareness of torment without knowing contentment.

So it is not that i ask for ignorant bliss or constant calmness, for rigid monotony is as draining to the soul as extreme vagary.

I ask for both unity and detachment,
To step away when the body and mind seem oversensitive and hysterical-
To embrace them from a distance.

And though i feel frequently stuck swinging in states of polarity,
i wait patiently for the internal friction to subside and for the opposing sides of my nature to realise there cannot be one without the other.

working seperartely they are fractured, and incomplete,
things are lop sided and i become dizzy,
the wind blows and i fall.

working together and i can feel whole,
i am centred and stronger,
wind howling, and i am still standing.
i have found equanimity.

to keep moving.......

We carry on our backs the burdens that time always reveals.... A memory unwanted... A wound that would not heal.We wrestle, we escape... But there's a consequence for this rootlessness: 'motions sickness' The only cure: To keep moving

But the running drained me. with no rest, I start to slow down. The body got tired, breathless, fractured by this restless state. The past was catching up, I could not escape it and collapsed frozen in fear.

But it is when we are most afraid that we get to know courage, when we feel so depleted that we sense our resilience and strength.

I now feel the pain I have been running from, i accept i was hurt. But the torment and injuries of the body which makes it sick- that comes from the relentless sprint to escape the past.

The past is part of us. We can run but we may get lost, unable to find a way forward. We seem trapped in a maze, the mind and body more scared than ever. Then we may have to turn back, face the memories to find our way again.

leopard cannot change his spots ........

The saying goes that a leopard cannot change his spots
but then i think of Darwin .....

I think of evolution as the magic of nature, as a reminder that our bodies are constantly changing to accommodate our needs and adapt to our environment.

There are the huge changes that take place amongst us all, but there are also those personal adjustments that continuously occur throughout our life.

So yes i am an eternal optimist, believing that if we are patient and trusting, we can shed the traits of the past that no longer help us and we can embrace change.

We must be gentle on ourselves- allow time. The rapid progression that takes place in the modern world makes us impatient, rushed, unsatisfied. We look for quick fixes, we take drastic measures. We feel pressure to conform, to keep up, to be better; to be more sophisticated, more intelligent, more controlled- we have to fit in this world of machinery and computers.

But machines and computers are vulnerable. Overworked and misused they can breakdown, get damaged. They need care and rest, time to recharge, as do we.

We get too absorbed with the mythical modern era and all its promises. The pills and the potions that will keep us young and healthy, the gadgets that will make our lifestyles more comfortable, the concepts and theories that can explain all the unexplained.

We forget both the power and fragility of nature. It follows its own route of development. We push and prod at it too hastily and this is disturbed. Socially we are becoming aware of this in regards to the climate - the planet and it Eco systems.

let us think of this on a much more intimate scale. lets us think of it within ourselves. careless, over consuming living has a huge impact on our bodies too. we neglect the planet and we start to see adverse weather, we neglect ourselves and the body starts to react unfavourably.

Its all just a reminder that we do not have to be extreme, ruthless and forceful, as this can make things out of balance and frenzied. It is a reminder that we do not have to battle against nature, to move forward. We can actually pause, reflect, and witness the subtle workings of nature and maybe have time to experience the changes that happen without mans insidious action and intellect.