The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick maker

Rub a dub dub,
Three Stalkers in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick maker.
Turn them out, fools all three!

LOL...a little twist on a very old nursery rhyme. This came to me at the oddest moment today but I won't say when as it could be a little indelicate. The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick maker...well the role of the Butcher and the 'Baker' is quite clear, not sure my ol' pal Frannie would fit the Candlestick maker too well. Ahh...I see now...well candles 'shine' light, and she DOES like to butt her wide load into my business. Tsk tsk See, sometimes I just need to write things out to find clarity. Hope they are having a fun time going through my myspace and blogs and such. The Baker better hope she doesn't get caught at work.

It's been an interesting few days and I've accomplished an amazing amount of work and made a number of new connections. I finally feel a new poem developing within so it should show it's face soon. I also have several astro-article ideas that are brewing and will likely pop out when I least expect it. One thing I have learned over the years is to never force these things...when something is ready to be birthed out into the world, it will come and fairly easily. If I try to pull it out before it is time, it becomes a difficult chore. I'm all for ease when it's available, LOL.

The mystery of the silence....

Ahhh, yes...I haven't been writing much poetry lately, for several reasons. I've been keeping very busy setting up a few sponsorships and getting things around for a fundraiser in addition to my regular work, so there's been little time to write or read. I have recently started reading a women's history book called "The History of the Wife," which is interesting and may lead to a blog or article or who knows, perhaps even a poem. But for now, I just wanted to touch base and share that Venus Illuminated is now a proud sponsor of the VBOC (Victory Base Open Circle). I am offering a donation corner where my customers are able to donate products to our pagan brothers and sisters serving in the military. Please read how you can help on the Venus Illuminated website!

Venus Illuminated is also proud to have donated several items to the Healing & Moving for a Cure, a Fundraiser to help make a world free of MS. Please read more about this event, to be held on August 3, 2008, below - it's not showing the entire advert for some reason, but you can see it in its entirety on the Dena's Poetry website or by clicking on it and visiting the fundraisers website:





I should be back on track with writing more soon, unless I get sidetracked with developing other aspects of my businesses.

Love in the Darkness,

Dena

Suicide...death...drowning

I've been thinking a lot about a story (or book?) I read quite some time ago - can't remember if it was in high school or at one of the various colleges/universities I've attended - where the main character (female) committed suicide by walking out into the sea...for the life of me I cannot remember who wrote it or what it was called. (If anyone has a suggestion, please drop a note!). I would really like to read this story again. I have written several ocean/water poems...death by water poems, and even a poem about diving off a Waterfall to the rocks below. Some have said that is my best work...maybe it was at the time I wrote it, back in 2001 or 2002. I would disagree now though. Some may think this subject is morbid...if so, don't read this post!! LOL

First, I don't see death as an ending. I see it as a passage from one form to another and a release from 'Hell' (which is where we currently reside). Oh, there is beauty in Hell...so much beauty. But regardless of how beautiful it is, we are here working our arses off in order to evolve. Personally I like being out of body...the constraints of the body can just be too much sometimes. Yet, there are physical pleasures we can only experience being inside the body...ok, so it's almost a toss up. I still favor being out of it over being in it, but I have learned over the years that daydreaming of death and escaping the confinement is only useful when I'm writing. I just tell myself that if I don't keep on going and keep on dealing with it I will only have more to do later in another incarnation...plus suicide is a major slap in the face to the powers that be. Sure, some people reading this will think I'm off my rocker but others (and there are many others) will understand exactly what I'm saying.

There is something glamorous and yet so sad about walking into the water and never coming back...just don't think about what happens to the body once the Spirit is freed! lol I wish I could remember why the woman committed suicide...what finally broke her down to the point where she felt so hopeless that the call of the sea was more powerful than any emotional ties or personal responsibilities. It was probably a man or a situation surrounding a love relationship. I intended to write today about how people cling so crazily to one another out of fear of being alone...instead I am here to ramble about death, suicide, and the love of the ocean as she pulls me into her powerful embrace...even the fishy smell and the salt feels like home sometimes...

What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl...

Such a beautiful quote, said to be by Rumi...so powerful in it's wisdom. It resonated with me fully tonight...What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl. The pearl is the Soul embedded within the physical form and no matter how much damage is inflicted upon the human body, the Soul can only learn and grow from pain and sorrow. No matter how deep the cracks in the ego, or how leaky the vessel, the Soul will survive and will remain beautiful.

I am a survivor...not a victim of life, but a survivor and a conqueror of difficulty and tragedy. I love my life, the joy of each pain and the pain of each joy. I do not stagnate. I do not become embittered (at least not for long). I see the beauty in each ray of the sun, in each tear, in the poverty and the luxury of the world.

My spine, while injured, still supports me. My body is perfect in all of it's flaws, perhaps more beautiful because of them. My heart, while broken, still beats and still loves. The path is always clear before me as each path will lead me to the 'right' destination...I am never lost, the Earth is my home.

Posted a new poem on the website called I Kiss the Scent of the Rising Storm.

Love, Light, & Blessings,

Dena

It's been a surreal week....

in a mixed up, crazy, dream-like way. Mercury retrogrades always cause such havoc in my life, even having it natally. Don't believe that bologna about how people with Mercury retrograde in their natal chart do not experience the dramas...BS. Just take a look an entry or two ago at my trojan fun...which, btw, is continuing off and on. But I have taken control of the situation and am on top of it.

Just when I think my feelings for someone are dead and buried, up they pop, like a jack-in-the-box. Sometimes I surprise even myself...ok, often I surprise myself. But not like this, not in such a wild, out-of-control sort of way. Can the dead be resurrected? Even without using Voo Doo? lol I don't know...I don't even know for certain I want to step foot back on that path. I'm tense...I'm a little anxious...and I'm a little excited. How can one hurt another so deeply and then just turn around and fan the dying embers until they are nearly in a blaze again?? And will it be different this time as we have both changed so much in the past year? Saturn's last pass over my Mars/South Node conjunction has surely brought up a lot to deal with in this karmic relationship we share. LOL Perhaps I should be discussing this in the astro-blog and not here.

I have been expressing my creativity differently throughout the week...I've been taking a lot of photos and working on the sites and writing, only not so much poetry. I've been playing more with rhyme and form in the few I have written, one which I posted on the site called Wild Gypsy Heart. It is difficult for me to fully comprehend how some women have such a difficult time attracting men when I have to sometimes (literally) beat them off with a stick...but it is useful in the sense that I am able to help women learn to be more confident and attractive and thus find a partner. Love is such an important aspect of life...for most of us, it is the most important. My main problem with Love is that once I love someone, I always love them. Maybe it isn't really a problem at all, only perceived that way by the bulk of society. Relationships change and feelings morph, but sometimes they change back into a more intense form after a period of lying fallow. So...what shall I do? Absolutely nothing at all...I will ride the wave and see where I land. I take my lessons as they come.

Passion

My pulse the poison you wish to taste...

Once in a while I write a line I just can't let go of and I will find it appearing again and again in various forms in my poetic works. The above line, from Blood of my Blood, Soul of my Soul is one that has only appeared once, in this more recent poem, yet today I find myself attracted to it and thinking about it. If you didn't read this poem when I had it on the website and would like to, I just posted it to Author's Den today. It will likely stay up there for a while.

A pulse as poison...so intense, so dangerous, and potentially addictive...two lovers melding together, tasting one another, unable to get enough. Passion...poetry is passion, and passion is poetry. Passion is intricate, complicated, and difficult to define...Poetry is intricate, complicated, and difficult to define. Sure, we can get out the dictionary and look up an acceptable definition, yet how each of us truly approaches each will vary and indeed even change and fluctuate. Critics will probably always argue the definition between poetry and prose. When some think of poetry they think of rhyme...when some think of passion, they automatically think of sex. Of course poetry is soooo much more than rhyme just as passion is so much more than sex.

Personally, I have many passions. I am a passionate woman by my very nature, which drives my need to create and express. I know what passionate love is and I have known love without great passion. While I prefer the first, unfortunately the second is more stable. Sometimes passionate love - and yes, I do mean love, not lust (I know what lust is too) - gets out of control and too intense for one partner or the other and then the sun goes down and the curtains fall. Not to be sexist, but usually it is the man who will run scared. Running scared doesn't have to mean severing the relationship, no, it can mean falling back on bad habits, picking up new ones, taking 'space', clinging to an outdated relationship for stability, creating numerous excuses, pouring himself into work, building up emotional walls, etc. Anything to calm himself, to get a gripe on himself, to avoid 'losing' himself to the lover he is so passionate about. To escape the one he loves. This is a very wounding experience for both...passion can kill but it can just as easily give you LIFE. To me, life without passion is a life not worth living. I'm still waiting for a man who can meet me fully and not crap his pants once he finally has my attention. Men have to work VERY hard to capture my attention and harder still to win my love and devotion. Unfortunately the few who have won me so were unable to rise to the challenge in the end of things. I doubt a man exists who can meet me fully with such faith, passion, love, and loyalty...and I won't settle for less. Other women (and men) may just settle for whatever they can get and cling to it tightly, but not me. As I grow older the less willing I am to settle for anything less than I want...I imagine this is a common experience for many artists.

At least my experiences help fuel my intensity and give me the energy to write while also providing something to write about! ;)

Trojans, Laptops, & Houses...oh my!

Life has been exciting with a nice Vundo and several other trojans playing around in my PC...still working on getting the Vundo out but have removed everything else and pieced the fragmented windows system and explorer back together. Bet few know how good I am with computers since I never talk about it, lol. It's not that interesting or fun to me, but something I can do when forced into it. Stephen always wants me to run to a computer person almost immediately...have faith, I say. Yeah, well someone is a computer genius out there because first off, they bundled together several OLD (2004 - 2005) viruses, trojans, etc and some rare things up with some downloaders and that crap webhancer POS, cloaked it as a norton file, then set it to be uploaded on Friday night when Norton is set to scan (default settings) on a holiday weekend. Vundo is lodged inside both my Norton and explorer. My new opinion of Norton is that it is a POS and I won't be using it again. Now I have AVG and A-squared and a few other things.

When I haven't been playing with my trojans (lol, sounds a little kinky) I've worked some in the garden and been trying to keep on top of work. I have been developing a new site late at night, here and there. So not much poetry coming out this week (so far) and now I am stuck in the end of the month rush with double the work and a want-to-launch-new-site mind set on the New Moon.

So here I am on the laptop and I hate being on laptops too long...only if I am on vacation is it acceptable. Am I old-fashioned or do I just like the feel of a bigger keyboard under my fingers?? I suppose I will have to stop working on fixing the PC and work on the laptop for the next several days so I can get my work done.

I've been looking at property a little tonight online as we have been considering moving for a year or two now...unfortunately we didn't have much time to look in person much when we were up north last summer, but maybe we can arrange for a few in-person viewings this summer when we go on vacation...just to get a feel. Or maybe I will find a deal I won't be able to resist. I'm not sure if I want to buy right away or just rent for a while and see what happens. Pretty set on the area, but not on if I want to buy and then have two mortgages, insurance, property taxes, etc. We won't sell the house here, I doubt. I have other plans for it.

It's late and I'm tired...5:30 am comes way too soon! I wish I had some poetry to share but all I really have is this sleepy ramble.

Lilt me your lips....

Primero...en Inglais...

How Will You Kiss?

Lilt me your lips,
our lost breath intermingling.

Synchronize our silence
as lazy hours ease by.

Waft cocoa, hazelnut, cinnamon,
scents around me.

Tremble with me
in paralyzing pauses.

I may no longer breathe
without breathing you.

- Judith Pordon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, in Spanish....

Como Besaras?

Enciendanme tus labios
Nuestros alientos perdidos entremezclandose

Sincroniza nuestro silencio
al perezoso pasar de las horas.

LLeva el aire aromas de cacao,
nuez, canela que me rodean

Tiembla conmigo
con pausas paralizantes

Quizá no pueda respirar más
sin respirarte a ti.

Judith Pordon
Translated by John Ramos

Oh, sooo damn yummy! I read this poem and could think of nothing but my lover's mouth and how he absolutely devours me. I would love to read this to him in Spanish. Had to share! Now back to buying 'pets' on Myspace...LOL

I'm SO Excited!

Life and love - it is what it is...love waxes and wanes in cycles, much as the Moon in all her glory. There is a time to be together, a time to be alone, and a time to expand ourselves out into the world as a couple, or as an individual. I am always inspired by those I love...I am so blessed to have such rich and intense emotional (and sexual) experiences with the few I have shared my heart and life with over the years.

There is so much inside of me, so much energy and desire and passion for living (and dying, another aspect of life, lol) that nothing or no one can bring me down for long. I bounce back, stronger and more resilient than ever. Each experience enriches my life and increases my knowledge and understanding of how the human mind works...and how love is an uncontrollable, unstoppable force. Sometimes (quite often, and I know in my line of work) people who love each other deeply can not be together for whatever reason...this does not mean they stop loving each other. It only means that they are unable to ground it into an everyday living arrangement. To some this may sound like pure torture (and sometimes it does feel that way!) but there may be higher reasons that they can't be together...sometimes it is simply timing issues or obligations/commitments made previously. Other times there is a deeper soul intent...for instance, some people have heavy karma to work out first, before they can allow themselves the pleasure of an easier, deeper love.

Tonight (really all day) I have been excited because I have started a new project that will give me room to express myself in so many ways that I can't even comprehend it all yet. And it is my love which drives me forward and opens these doors within my mind, doors that will hopefully be healing and perhaps lucrative as well. ;)

I have written a new poem called "Dying to Burn"...you can read it on the website. I also posted it on Author's Den and someone mentioned how it is so unlike me...but really, no, it isn't! LOL I suppose they may not have read any of my older works...this new poem actually falls back into an older, more traditional form, which I often used between 2000 - 2002. My greatest loves have inspired such a wonderful creativity within me...the first gave me the gift of Astrology...only time will tell what the second will do other than melt me inside and out. I am blessed, that much is true.

Wounding and Pain

The ones we love the most are the people we hurt the most...it seems to be an unwritten law when it comes to our most significant relationships. I can sit here and philosophize about the why's and what for's until death knocks on my door and it won't help anything...it must simply be accepted as a universal truth, no matter how difficult a one it is to swallow. So why do we do it? Several reasons and it will vary from situation to situation, but it is usually out of fear of loss, personal pain, or because it is forced.

Sometimes we say things we wish we could take back, even if it is a true reflection of what we are thinking or feeling in the moment. Words are powerful...they can become weapons even when we have no such intention.

I hate hurting people I love even when they have earned it and then some. I usually understand what is happening in retrospect but in the heat of the moment things are said that resonate powerfully from within me, sometimes words with far-reaching consequences. Most of the time I will apologize and explain but once in a rare while I simply cannot apologize for speaking my truth - my truth may, of course, be totally different than my loved one's 'truth' but it is still mine and it still must be spoken and released. If it isn't released, it turns into a darker force that WILL eventually come out, and it will come out in a much more uncontrollable and destructive form. I have learned over several lifetimes (the Michael Teachings say I have been here 81 times - as channeled by Shepherd Hoodwin, for those who may misunderstand where this information has come from. I only have somewhat detailed knowledge/memories of 8) to NOT hold things in and to keep control over the energy...otherwise, someone (or lots of someone's) is going to get hurt. Not that they don't anyhow, but it could be oh, so much worse...that I know and that must be prevented.

My song for the weekend is "Sorry" by Buckcherry...for my newest poem, check the website :) Can hear the song on my personal myspace.

"Sorry"

Oh I had a lot to say was thinking on my time away
I missed you and things weren't the same

[Pre-Chorus:]
Cause everything inside it never comes out right
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die

[Chorus:]
I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry I'm blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you
And I know I can't take it back
I love how you kiss, I love all your sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry:

This time I think I'm to blame it's harder to get through the days
You get older and blame turns to shame

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

Every single day I think about how we came all this way
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried it's never too late to make it right
Oh yeah sorry!

[Chorus]

I'll be the garden, you be the snake...

There are several songs that call out to me as being soooo close to who I am, or at least close to how I resonate, and "Like it or Not" by Madonna is definitely one of them, LOL.

Like It Or Not ~ Madonna

You can call me a sinner
You can call me a saint
Celebrate me for who I am
Dislike me for what I ain't

Put me up on a pedestal
Or drag me down in the dirt
Sticks and stones will break my bones
But your names will never hurt

I'll be the garden
You be the snake
All of my fruit is yours to take
Better the devil that you know
Your love for me will grow
Because

[Chorus]
This is who I am
You can
Like it or not
You can
Love me or leave me
Cus I'm never gonna stop
No no

Cleopatra had her way
Matahari too
Whether they were good or bad
Is strictly up to you

Life is a paradox and it doesn't make much sense
Can't have the Femme without the Fatale
Please don't take offense

Don't let the fruit rot under the vine
Fill up your cup and let's drink the wine
Better the devil that you know
Your love for me will grow
Because....

It's a beautiful Mother's day...the Sun is shining, my plants are happy, the kids are being quiet and behaved, and I've received lots of Mother's Day blessings and greetings :D I spent some time this morning taking photos of my recently started seeds...we put them in Friday night at around 8 pm EDT and already have lots of them coming up. Last night I put in my new exotic flower seeds: Black violas, Violet Nightshade, and Vanilla Ice Sunflowers (ice, ice baby). I CAN'T WAIT to see how they come up and how they will grow. I also ordered wood betony and stevia seeds. I think I am going a little bit overboard with it but it's fun to learn and explore. When I find myself obsessively reading an herbal medicine book at redlights and staying up into the wee morning hours doing the same...well... LOL BUT at least my mind is happy and growing. I can't imagine just curling up inside and stagnating like so many other people in the world do. BORING...

I may start the new gardening blog today, or I may redo my myspace. I may even work some more on my karmic reading, but was doing that until 11 pm last night and today is Mother's Day, after all. :D Yes, I celebrate things in the strangest of ways but I've never been a materialistic person. I'm much more pleased with the card Gare made me and his help and interest with the garden than anything anyone could buy me. Even Dae showed a spark of interest last night. Getting her research paper done without my having to nag is the only thing I want today! LOL I'm laughing so hard - I was eating Jaipur vegetables and let my sister try them...I didn't tell her how spicy they are!!!!!

Blessings!

There's nothing quite like dirt under the nails...plus I've gone and fallen in love today

There's nothing quite like digging your hands into the earth in the early morning hours...plucking dead leaves here, pulling up weeds there, and of course gently fondling and cooing sweet words of love to the babies. I am considering starting a gardening blog here soon, where I can share my joy, experiences, and any tragedies of learning to grow organically along the way. I have taken some pictures to share just in case I get around to it. I wish I would have thought of that when I first planted the seeds! LOL C'est la vie...live and learn and all that.

I really need to get back to my paying work in a moment, but figure I deserve a short while off to eat and take a breather. I didn't plan to write in here this afternoon but alas, I have gone and done it again...fallen in love, that is. With a poem. LOL Yes, I'm a romantic, loving soul but my heart is currently bound up with another soul so tightly there is little room for human encroachment...but there is plenty of room for plants and poetry ;)

A nice man left a comment on one of my recent poems on author's den (hopefully you can see it, if you like) so I went to check out his work and found a lovely beauty just waiting to be read. Here is the opening verse to The Perfect Rose, by Paul Berube:

Gems upon this fertile soil
bring wealth into our world.
Forget the diamond pure and spoiled
or charm in every pearl.

You should be able to see the whole poem by clicking the linked poem title. I really enjoyed this gem...the flow is so beautiful.

Back to heavy karma I go...wish me luck!!

And Nothing Else Matters...

Such a lovely song and I have so many versions...I do believe my very favorite is the instrumental by Apocalyptica. You wouldn't believe how many poems were pulled out of me by listening to it :D And nothing else matters...

So no sonnet yet...to be honest, I've been out in the garden for a great part of the day and enjoying it immensely. I started 25 new seeds only 2 days ago and 19 of them have broken ground and are growing at an alarmingly beautiful rate. 2 days...YES, 2 days! From seed. Love will indeed work miracles...I have no doubt of that. The tomatoes are wonderful despite the disease the plant managed to pick up...getting it under control and the fruit is amazing. I have harvested a decent amount of parsley and basil and dried it in the dehydrater, and now have Lemon Balm going in it. This evening we released 1500 ladybugs and I was delighted to find that they STILL love me, even fully grown, lol. They wanted to be on me, not the plants. I probably had a good 20 or more on me at a time...Dae was laughing. When I was little, I was a ladybug and butterfly magnet. All I had to do is sit or stand still and they would land on me and stay for a while. I could capture butterflies in my hand and talk to them. I do have a lot of butterflies out in the yard too as they love the Mexican petunia.

So where is this ramble leading? Why, to a poem of course! A short little haiku I just wrote...not a sonnet by any means, but short and sweet.

Tender little ladybug
Crawling on my hand -
Fly away now, fly away…

Perhaps I will try to write more yet tonight, time will tell!

Love, Light, & Ladybug blessings,

Dena

Sonnets, Sonnets everywhere

All right, here is the very first sonnet I ever wrote, Death's Victory. It was written on August 28, 2001 - ages ago!! LOL My, how life changes and yet seems to stay the same.

Death’s Victory

Your words were like a whisper
Drifting in the summer rain,
A soft sigh frozen in acrid disdain.
I wander woefully, a drifter,
In a land of fragrant dreams,
Clutching your essence close,
Tempting love with thoughts morose,
The illusion shatters fated schemes.
Though our love is naught
But a fairy tale lurking in my mind,
And my heart’s destiny is undone
With swift currents and blistering sun,
The bitter sea separation is not blind;
In death we reap what life has sought.

Dena L. Moore
August 28, 2001

I've been so busy I haven't had time to play around with writing a new one, but perhaps soon since I am on an almost 2 week reading/consultation free break starting tomorrow. Yet one of my best friends will be here tomorrow for a few days, then I have my son's birthday and a trip to Disney so will I be in a sonnet-writing mood?? Only time will tell ;)

Oh, what a tangled web we weave

It's a bit of a wonder to contemplate that I have been writing poetry for over 30 years...over this time I have developed my own style, which is quite easy to distinguish as genuinely mine if you know my work...when I am writing thusly. :D As I look over my recent work, I find that I have preferred a heavier, almost solid, wall of words in contrast to my older style of stanzas, most often quatrains or 5 lines - which at the moment I am too tired to remember if it is officially called canto or if canto is simply the division of the poem. I find it amusing that Saturn is so heavy that he is even affecting my work at the moment...perhaps in a good way, but only time will reveal or hide the pearl.

I think I may challenge myself and work within a more constrictive form soon, perhaps a sonnet as I haven't written one in a number of years. I believe it was in 2002 when I was playing around with traditional form. This may be when I was taking a poetry class at university, as I wrote a paper on Louise Bogan that year called Louise Bogan and the Pleasures of Formal Poetry I remember how a man I knew through a poetry group stumbled upon it a few years later and emailed me saying he was surprised I wrote about Louise Bogan...I don't even know which poetry group I knew him through, but he was a heavy hitter who was always raging against the machine. His poetry was full of anger, but sometimes that is what is needed to get the job done. Funny, I can't even remember his name now. So yes, it is an experiment more than anything to 'bind' myself, if you will. Why not? Perhaps I will dig up those old sonnets and share at some point. Or just write new ones, lol.

Love, Light, and Darkness,

Dena

Message from Metatron - April 14, 2008

All is well in the Spirit World,
Love is as love does -
The flock gathers for wisdom
The liars are in need of guidance now
For they are unable to speak their own truth,
They bite their tongues and wither inside until the light is gone
And their health fades.
Yet you cannot guide those who will not face the person in the mirror,
You can only stand to the side and wait while the visage cracks and the tears pour.
You are blessed as one who knows, you are strong in countenance,
This is what you must do, you must anchor the rocking ship, you must be the light in the storm.
But you cannot create the storm, you can only be the guiding light.
Each must make their own mistakes, each must pay their own price.
You are the guide, you are the light.
Do not let the light fade, do not dim the light in the storm.
All will be as it should be.

Love Thy Enemy...or not?

It's difficult for me to hate too deeply for too long, generally because I know that the 'enemy' is nothing more than a wounded soul in need of solace and comfort. Yet, to be truthful, my own personal saying has long been an eye for an eye and an inch of skin. Just because I know that the person attacking me and attempting to make my life miserable (which is impossible, I am simply a way too positive person who can always find the beauty in the worst situations) is a miserable, lost wreck themself doesn't mean I do not have human emotions, desires, and needs. I can pretty much hold my cool in even the worst of storms...often I just sit back and allow them to bite off their own tongue, which is the greatest revenge of all. Do nothing and you can always count on the idiots to fumble the ball.

I used to think how strange it was that so many Christians are hypocrites, but then I realized that they can't help it. Think of the conflicting message of the 'teachings'...first they are told such things as:

"Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them. (Samuel 22:40-42)

and

"Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." (Deuteronomy 19:20-22 )

THEN Jesus comes along and teaches:

"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-39)

Smite me on the cheek and you better be prepared for the fall out. It may not come for several years, but when it comes, it will be amazing! But there will also be a higher purpose underlying the 'lesson' that must be taught. I think that quote from Matthew would be a great line for those into BDSM.

I love my enemies, really...they give me something to think about when I get bored. People either absolutely love me or they just don't like me at all. I don't care, I'm just me and that's all I have to be.

The Plight of Persephone

I've always been entranced by myth, mythology, and archetypes...as I grew older, this love naturally expanded to envelop archetypal psychology and the voices of the Soul. If you've known me or have been reading my work for a while, you will likely be more than aware of how drawn I am to the so-called tragedy of Persephone. Indeed, I've written on this topic before, quite in-depth, but at the moment I have no idea where that article/snippet/whatever you want to call it is! It is posted somewhere on the web, or was at some point. LOL Yes, I spread my thoughts/ideas around...sort of like a bee pollinating the garden...I have a million bees up in my tree, but that's another topic all together.

I love Hades/Pluto...seriously. Perhaps that is why I cannot possibly see how Persephone minded her abduction by such a powerful mythological man. She lost her maidenhead (shall we cry about that? I bet Hades/Pluto is an excellent lover) and she was separated from her mother and the life she knew (a process of transformation) but she gained the love of the Lord of the Underworld and became Queen of the Dead, a powerful Goddess in her own right. Once we pass through the Gates of Life (or Death) we will never be the same again. Just as Persephone comes from below to visit Demeter in the Spring, we too have our own personal renewals and radiant growth...yet how many of us understand that we continue to grow when we are in the 'Underworld', in our own darkness? Life is a circle - or a spiral - with no beginning and no end, only change and evolution. Although Persephone may have been a little frightened (or was that excitement that made her cry out so?) at first, she was ready for a change. She wandered off and found the Narcissus...while we can read this literally, I interpret this aspect of the story as Persephone's search for something more. When she found it, she plucked it...this is what we should all learn to do, to pluck when it is time to pluck and don't look back!

My work often contains elements of the Persephone myth. The poem I wrote just a short while ago entitled The Bittersweet Intensity of the Shadows includes fragments of the myth. If anyone asked me what Goddess I resonate with the most, it will always be Persephone, though I have strong elements of Venus/Aphrodite too (both the pleasant and the not so pleasant aspects :)). My loves are often very Plutonian in nature - drawing me down into the Dark and striving to keep me there. But, like Persephone, I must return aboveground and shine my light and help bring growth to the world, lol.

When one stirs the Soul....

Being on a path of accelerated growth isn't easy...it's like a broken pile of bones being pulled from the grave and expected to have working muscles and organs within seconds. There are many Spiritual truths that one can be aware of but unable to discuss openly in a public forum for various reasons...mainly that there are too many fruitloops in the world who would misinterpret or misconstrue the thoughts because they aren't evolved enough to understand them. Fear breeds hate. No sense in adding to the already polluted web of life too much. Sometimes I do things that may APPEAR to be mean or hurtful, but my highest purpose here is not as an Astrologer, not as a Poet or Writer (although those aspects of myself are valuable on a collective level in and of themselves), no my main purpose is to WAKE others up. Unfortunately, awakening is often a painful process and even more unfortunately, the awakener sometimes must use quite severe methods to get the job done. (Funny how so many people are so hung up on themselves that they think everything I write is about them! GUESS WHAT, I'm NOT talking about you or ANYONE in particular)

And so I digress...I intended to write about the beauty of knowing someone who has the power to stir the Soul on such a level that no one before or no one since can compare. A connection so powerful that the two can TOUCH one another even though they are far apart...that they can feel the other approaching, hear their thoughts, know when they are happy, sad, stressed. Such a connection is so rare and so beautiful, though nearly impossible to explain to others who have never experienced such. This is a meeting of Souls, which can be overwhelming to both at times as they struggle with their earthly fears and needs and external obligations. I was stirred to contemplate on our love by a poem by Shelley:

Music, When Soft Voices Die

Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heap'd for the belovèd's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1792-1822)

His soft sweet voice has always been like music to my ears...his smile radiant, his laughter the sound I will cherish until I am gone from this life. No matter where he goes, what he does, I know that the love between us will always linger on. This stirs me on such a level I find myself writing more intensely than ever.

Love's Night & A Lamp...

I haven't had time to write anything of my own today, but wanted to take a few short moments to enrich my poetic mind with the words of another. Funny how over so many centuries Love (with a capital L) has not evolved even though we, as humans, have. It is just another sharp reminder to me, as a relationship astrologer/counselor, that Love is one of the main underlying forces that pushes us all forward on our paths. What else, you might ask...well, spirituality and creativity. These three form an evolutionary triangle...one won't get very far without at least one of these forces strong in their life. When one has all three driving them at once (such as I have the great pleasure), it is like being pummeled by constant change.

And the poem, as I found it and enjoyed it's wisdom:

Love's Night & a Lamp

Love's night & a lamp
judged our vows:
that she would love me ever
& I should never leave her:
Love's night & you, lamp, witnessed the pact.
Today the vow runs:
'Oaths such as these, waterwords.'
Tonight, lamp,
witness her lying
-in other arms.

Meleager (c. 140 - 70 BC)
Translated by Peter Whigham

Some take their love vows so lightly, only feeling it in the moment, while others are more passionate and deeply intense. Neither way is the 'right' way, they are simply different...but when two such as these meet, the more intense and serious one will be hurt by the more light-hearted, fluttery lover. When two intense lovers meet and form a love bond, it can be painful for both if, for whatever reason, they cannot be together. So who is to say that it is better to love so deeply, so purely, so truly...or to take love as it comes and let it go just as quickly?