WORDS IN THE WIND

Animal Day

2010-10-04T12:38:00.001+02:00

On this day, people tend to stop, even if just for one moment, and think what this day means to them. Many have animals and treat them with respect and love. Others may love/like animals but do not have one with them sharing their lifes. Others, have animals and just do not look at them. And others do not have animals at all.

Why are animals that important? What is the big deal with this day. Honestly??? Nothing and everything!

Nothing, for people that do not care who or what they share their lifes with. Since for many, animals are just meat or entertainment, and those will not think on this day as something to be of an importance or something to cheer about.

Everything, for people who will recognize what animals are in their lifes (not just as food) and for that they will celebrate, respecting and loving, wishing and dreaming, what they mean to them.

On this day I would like to share a though, and idea, a meditation, a dream.

What are animals? What are we? The same and one I would say. The opposite and living appart I would also say.

In my life I always lived with animals, only for a brief periode of time (6 months of my life) I did not live with an animal around me. And for those 6 months I only have to say that they were a bliss and the worst days of all.

We take everything for granted in our lifes. And rarely we think that way, that nothing is fr granted, or if we do, easily we forget. And that is amazing in the human heads. How easily we forget things and live life without thinking on the impact we have in the world around us.

Not with the animals, they do not take their lifes for granted. It is quite the opposite. Everyday they are grateful for what they have, even if it is a very bad condition (unfortunatly), they are patient and kind. They are love in the living form. Is it strange to think about them like this? Maybe so, maybe not..

So here it comes... For some minutes on this day, sit quietly where you can relaxe and not be disturbed.

Think about an animal that you like (domestic or wild one) and then enter in his life. Try to see the world with his eyes, hear with his ears, touch with his body, talk with his mouth, and feel with his heart. Try it for as long as you can.

After, you can write it down in a piece of paper. And put the paper somewhere, and you can read it whenever you want.

It is a simple exercice. It can make you feel something different or not. Is an experience and everyone lives it in different ways and feels it differently too.

It is curious to understand which animal you chose, and what you experienced by being him. It touches in the heart and soul. And it may also make you understand and know things about yourself that you did not know or did not give word or voice to before.

In the end I would also like to say that the animal day is everyday of the year, and it is also our day. We are different and alike, we are one and the same. If you respect them you are respecting your own life and yourself.

And so it be...

The power of the Sun

2010-08-07T08:36:00.000+02:00

This photo was taken in Açores, by Mafalda Seguro in July 2010

Seek, dream, hope and cry

2010-08-06T22:31:00.001+02:00

What tomorrow will bring...

In the arms of an angel we seek

What we lost and loved

In the arms of an angel we dream

About clouds and light

In the arms of an angel we hope

That we will fix what is broken

In the arms of an angel we cry

and give voice to what we cannot say out loud

In the ilusion we believe in a world

In the reality the suffering is there and cannot be shut

I seek, I dream, I hope and I cry

for words not said

for feelings that are breaking my heart

for pieces shattered by pain

for something that may not be there anymore

for something that will always be the other half...

What we seek, dream, hope and cry for...

Is as real as the sunshine

There is nothing that can break it

but still... the pain is learning

the pain is a growing of souls and spirit

the pain is what is needed to understand

that a half is always part of a whole

and the whole is one... even if broken!

On the top of the world

2010-07-18T00:10:00.000+02:00

This photo was taken in Pico, in July 2010 by Mafalda Seguro

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

The bee

2010-06-06T09:34:00.000+02:00

There was a bee walking, desperately, on the sand.

The sun was shining and the hearts were happy. When the eyes made contact with the bee, they weren't sure to what to do. The bee was sad and hurt, and she walked as if she wasn't sure where to go. The bee was runing away from the plants behind, that could offer her some protection, she was walking in the direction of the water, sea water...

She gets up and grabs a shelf to help the bee, but it is to small, and the bee was scared already. And then she grabed a cap, and helped the bee to jump to the protection given to her. The bee understood, she walked to the cap, and she started right away to clean herself.

"Too much salt... The sand was not helping... My wings are stuck and very dry... I cannot fly... "

"You can stay here as long as you want... Would you want me to put you on the top of a plant?"

"A few more minutes and yes..."

So the bee cleaned herself, and after a while she put the bee on the top of a plant, where the bee kept cleaning herself, happy for been given an opportunity.

The bee stayed there for 20 minutes, cleaning her wings, refreshing her soul and trying to calm down from the evident death that she was going through.

She started to fly, and made a turn around her saying thanks... And off she went... With the promisse of a renewed life...

A life is a life... So easily taken by human hands... Who are we to do it without second thoughts?

The Invitation

2010-06-06T09:12:00.000+02:00

The Invitation by Oriah

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,
from the book The Invitation
published by HarperONE, San Francisco,
1999 All rights reserved

Emptiness

2010-05-23T18:00:00.000+02:00

You are lost in your world

Everything you believe in and lived by are gone

You are alone and on your own

An emptiness fill places on the soul

where there should be love, joy and hope

They are gone... lost in the deep

There is something you can feel

A pain so strong that makes you disconnected

from yourself and others

There is nothing inside, nothing to feel

Nothing to hope or to love

Everything is gone...

The hand starts moving...

Your body wants to follow it

but your mind says no... it is good to just stand still

Your arm moves on the opposit way

and in a heart beat is pulling the rest of you

Your legs are moving, faster and faster

Your run... and run... and run...

At the top of the street you look back

It does not make sense to go back

Is good to feel the wind... to move your body...

To breath fresh air...

You look ahead of you... there is something...

You run again to reach it...

In a moment ideas, visions and projects are shaped...

A dream is born...

Silence

2010-05-09T14:36:00.000+02:00

The silence is strong

With waves of understanding

With glimpses of what can be

The certainty is vague

Fear and desperation walk together

Hope and joy side by side

The darkness swalows clues

Life changing clues

Openess is blindful by uncontrolled emotions

Clarity is hidden behind minds

And then... Silence...

It breaks all walls, and fears

It gives a possibility of change

And one more step further...

Inner Child

2010-04-24T23:10:00.000+02:00

"Look to the trees!"

"What is in the trees? They are naked... With no leaves..."

"Look closer! They are growing... There is greens, and whites, and reds, and..."

"I can't do this now, we have to keep walking, to the highest point."

"What is the point of going, if you are not seeing? Is almost the same as if you were doing nothing... Sometimes you are boring..."

"I am exercicing... It is hard to climb..."

"Is not that high... And if you don't see the beauty around you... Why does it matter if you are in shape or not?"

"What happens if I don't see it? The others are in the top already..."

"So? I just wanted to see the colours..."

"Whatever..."

In the top they see a big lake. In the lake there is a boat sailing...

"Look the boat!"

"Look the wind... and the magic around you..."

"Yes, but the people inside the boat must be having a good time, in complete solitude and relaxing..."

"So you can do it also... You are in the top, and now you are dreaming how it would be if you were down? You don't ever have a rest do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just put a leg up for example..." and the leg goes up.

"What is the point? Everyone is looking at us... Stop with that..."

"Yes! They are looking at us, but they are smilling, they are looking to a woman putting a leg up just for fun, and they are happy about it..."

And she looks... and realizes that is true...

"Let's go to the swing... I miss it... Remember when we swing some years back?"

"I do remember... I was very happy in that time..."

"Why aren't you now?"

"I am happy now, but we grew up, and things are not so simple anymore..."

"Yes they are... Come with me... let's swing... and swing... up and down... push... close your eyes and feel the wind... and the sounds... and yourself..."

And she does it... She is smiling in the beggining, and then she is laughing... With her eyes closed she trusts and enjoys the moment! When she opens her eyes, everyone is laughing with her...

"Life can be simple if you close your eyes and let go, when you open them again you can see the world around you differently... but the difference is in you only and in the way you want to look at it! And then it is contagious..."

Earth Day

2010-04-22T14:22:00.000+02:00

Is it a dream? Is it real?
Can I sleep and never wake up from it?
Lights from everywhere
Love brights and warms hearts
Happyness is an adiction
Respect never fades
And then... you walk from the shadow...
Dressed in white with a flower crown
Beautiful and powerful
Compassionate and blissful
The wind blows slowly
and the smell in the air fills all the senses
You... in your bare feet
Without knowing the effect around you
While you walk, lights and new lifes reborn...
Healing and creation are given while you breath...
A procession follows you...
Can we hope for more?
I do not want to wake up from my sleep
The eternal sleep in my Mother's Earth arms...

Earth day thought

2010-04-21T10:20:00.000+02:00

What would you do if nothing that we know disappears?

First thought is that is nonsense, nothing will disappear, we still have forests in Africa, or in America, or even a little piece of land with two trees in our backyard. So we are done... We still have much... We still have all of it and the better part is, we are the ones to control it. If we want we cut trees, or burn a forest, or kill animals for their tooth, fur or ivory, destroy an entire fauna and flora to build cities or just a nuclear station... We can do so... We can destroy so much...

But then... nothing that we take can be restored... not exactly like this, but if we take millions of acres, of course that it is very difficult to restore it, especially when this process takes hundreds of years, and of course it is more importante to scream with our neighbour or kill others than plant a tree, respect the ones with whom we share this planet or give another possibility to a new life.

I am hurt... I also hurt... and for that I am hurt... we all live in a hippocratic world, where our well being and materialism is above all the rest... with no second thoughts about who and what we hurt on the way...

But now she is taking back what it was taken from her...

And the simple answer from her was: "I do not destroy... I just create..." Many will not accept it... She is in her own right... How can you... How can we... destroy what was never ours? Now the consequences are shown...
We are just receiving what we sowed...

Earth Day 2010 video

2010-04-21T09:59:00.000+02:00

Are you looking for something?

2010-04-12T18:01:00.000+02:00

"Yes? Are you looking for something?"

The boy kept standing and looking very concentrated to the trees.

He got close to one of them and touched it... Looked up and could see and feel the sun light playing with the branches. His father went near him and ask him again. "Are you looking for something?"

His son looked back at him with a big smile on his face and said. "They are back... "

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T22:05:00.000+02:00

Please forgive me...

2010-03-23T18:43:00.000+01:00

Please forgive me...
For the long years of solitude
For being blind to your suffering
For doing nothing when I could
For being afraid most of my life
For hoping that others would bring me answers
For looking everywhere except to you
For not hearing you ask for help
For listening and not reply
For enjoy and take, and give nothing in return
For loving you all these years...
and only now accept that I am the one who belongs to you!!!

Spring Equinox/ Alban Eilir

2010-03-21T09:20:00.000+01:00

The cold and darkness are behind us, the days are longer by the day. After three months of snow and hibernation, comes the light and colours, the sun and smells... It is time to wake up and get out of the house, enjoy and be part of the changes around.

It is a great occasion to plant some seeds and tender them during the next weeks until they grow. Open the window and let the air, light and smell fill the air around, let it in in the house and in your heart.

Many blessings on this Spring Equinox/ Alban Eilir

Are you ready?

2010-03-17T06:58:00.000+01:00

Are you ready for me?

Are you ready at all?

It is time now... It is exposure time...

Take off the masks...

Are you ready to accept yourself?

Live... and be... what you have born to do!

Sleep well my child

2010-03-14T19:21:00.000+01:00

Sleep well my child

Welcome to my arms...

My roots will hold you

and waters will guide you,

while the earth will return you home.

Sleep well my child

Welcome to my arms...

Rest you shall find

after a long battle fought

where you won your return

to your mother's arms.

Sleep well my child

Welcome to my arms...

Memories you bring

remembrance you left behind

and beloved one's love marks

forever attached.

Sleep well my child

Welcome to my arms... and here, peace you will find!

In memorial... of a beloved one...

Help save the elephants

2010-03-11T20:59:00.002+01:00

Elephants or ivory?

I just signed an urgent petition calling on nations to protect elephants from poachers. There's a risk they will weaken the global ban on the lethal ivory trade -- it's being discussed at a UN convention this weekend!

The petition will be delivered directly to the convention, so I thought you might be interested in standing up for the elephants too -- just click here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thanks!

(Read more below)

------

Dear friends,

This weekend (Mar 13), 2 African governments will try to pry open the worldwide ban on ivory trading -- a decision that could wipe out whole elephant populations and bring these magnificent animals closer to extinction.

Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban, but this would send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it's open-season on elephants. Another group of African states have countered by calling to extend the trade ban for 20 years.

Our best chance to save the continent's remaining elephants is to support African conservationists. We only have 5 days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every 3 years. Click below to sign our urgent petition to protect elephants, and forward this email widely so we can deliver hundreds of thousands of signatures to the UN meeting in Doha:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Over 20 years ago, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) passed a worldwide ban on ivory trading. Poaching fell, and ivory prices slumped. But poor enforcement coupled with 'experimental one-off sales', like the one Tanzania and Zambia are seeking, drove poaching up and turned illegal trade into a lucrative business -- poachers can launder their illegal ivory with the legal stockpiles.

Now, despite the worldwide ban, each year over 30,000 elephants are gunned down and their tusks hacked off by poachers with axes and chainsaws. If Tanzania and Zambia are successful in exploiting the loophole, this awful trade could get much worse.

We have a one off chance this week to extend the worldwide ban and repress poaching and trade prices before we lose even more elephant populations -- sign the petition now and forward this message to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Across the world's cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination -- Babar, Dumbo, Ganesh, Airavata, Erawan. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being annihilated.

As long as there is demand for ivory, elephants are at risk from poaching and smuggling -- but this week we have a chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals' profits -- sign the petition now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

With hope,

Paul, Alice, Iain, Raluca, Graziela, Ricken, Luis, Paula Benjamin, David, Ben and the rest of the Avaaz team

More information:

Partners at Bloody Ivory and Born Free:
http://www.bloodyivory.org/
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: http://www.cites.org

-------------------------------

I live in a bubble

2010-03-10T18:58:00.003+01:00

"My whole world is a bubble… I live inside a bubble… What I breathe is knowledge... My actions are in dreams... My aspiration is imagination... My body... is broken... has no activity, desires or motivation...

I live in a bubble... and life passes by me... all other people’s lives pass through me running and I just watch... my lips are sealed and my mind is dormant... Only in my dreams I react, is my waking world, my reality and my safe harbour... a place where there are no boundaries, hunger, thirst... instead there are behaviours, feelings, thoughts, actions and growing... this is how I live inside the bubble...

I live in a bubble... How should I wake up from this? How should I get free from the bubble? Every time I try it, another bubble is formed around me... another world is created... What is real or illusion I cannot know... If I am awake or dreaming is impossible to discern...

I live in a bubble... and there is no way to run from it... it chases me, and if not I hunt it, until I am inside again...

I live in a bubble... where dreams and reality are one... where I have several personalities, facets, bodies and only one spirit... My destination is one and one only...

I live in a bubble... outside there is a world of anger and fear... I am scared to come out and I am scared to be like them... all of them...

I live in a bubble... and here the only thing I can find is me... and all other people’s wishes, hopes... and hearts...

I live in a bubble... colours splash in front of me... outside is dark and cold... inside the colours make my world warmer and bright...

I live in a bubble... and the bubble lives in me... and in this world the only reality is hope and love!"

In dedication to a loved one...

Long sleep

2010-03-09T20:56:00.000+01:00

Another turn of the wheel

when a soul is least expecting

the darkest of times are passing

the ilusions and anguish are fading!

another light is rising

different perspectives are coming...

the voice is strong with the warm

and the heart is beating faster by the day

the feeling of food and nourishment,

water, air and earth together...

fire around the life, who is waking from her long sleep!

A cold and long winter

2010-03-07T20:01:00.001+01:00

Photo taken in Risskov, February 2010, by João Fernandes

A cold and long winter

It ripped all the colour...

White... three months of white

The rarest colour from nature...

That leaves a trail of puress and cleansing

Three months of flying snowflakes

Three months of emptiness...

Three months of hibernation

Three... the magic number...

Three months...

in learning of the otherworld

in acceptance of the gifts

in definition of whom is.

Run or not?

2010-03-02T17:29:00.000+01:00

In a society controlled by fear and devastation, where some values are almost forgotten and life is ruled by money and power, where can thy find the way? Where can thy find the courage to be and live?

Which excuse will thy give to his heart when it is not followed? Can thy get hurt? Can thy still live a full life?

The obstacles that thy find in their way come to test thy with the most difficult of learnings. But once they are learned, they will be difficult to let go. With a great learning and development come a great responsability and pain, but also a great love and happyness. There is no way to run from it, and if thy runs thy heart is broken, and thy lives an half life...

Do not run... do no fear...

The best...

2010-02-17T19:41:00.000+01:00

The best we have in life are the things we cannot measure and tend to ignore easily...
The best gifts come with an unusual "paper"...
and the best advice comes from unbelievable forms...

Is this the world we are living in?

2010-02-09T21:15:00.002+01:00

Stop Uganda's gay death law

I've just signed a petition calling on the Ugandan government to withdraw a proposed anti-gay law that would punish gay people with prison -- or even death. We only have days left and we need 1 million people to sign. Read more below, and sign the petition here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_for_tolerance/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thanks!

------

Dear friends,

Uganda’s parliament is preparing to pass a brutal new law that would punish gay people with prison -- even death.

Initial international criticism drove the President to call for a review. But after a well-funded and vicious lobbying effort by extremists, the bill could still pass -- threatening persecution and bloodshed.

Opposition to the bill is rising, including from the Anglican church. Ugandan gay rights advocate Frank writes, “This law will put us in serious danger. Please, sign the petition and tell others to stand with us – if there’s a huge global response, our government will see that Uganda will be internationally isolated by the proposed law, and strike it down.”

With the decision expected in days, only an irresistible wave of worldwide pressure will be enough to save Frank's life and many others. Let’s raise 1 million signatures to stop the gay death law -- click here to take action, then forward this email:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_for_tolerance/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

The petition will be delivered to President Museveni, members of the review committee and Ugandan embassies worldwide this week before it’s too late, as well as to key donor governments.

The bill proposes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of having same-sex relations and imposes the death penalty for “serial offenders”. NGOs working to prevent the spread of HIV could be imprisoned for up to 7 years for “promoting homosexuality”. Even members of the public face up to three years in jail if they fail to report homosexual activity to the police within 24 hours!

The bill’s advocates claim that it defends national culture, but its strongest critics come from within Uganda. The Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha is one of many who’s written to us – he says,

"It is violating our cultures, traditions and religious values that teach against intolerance, injustice, hatred and violence. We need laws to protect people -- not ones that will humiliate, ridicule, persecute and kill them en masse."

By rejecting this dangerous bill and supporting the breadth of opposition to it, we can help set a crucial precedent. Let’s raise 1 million signatures for Uganda’s human rights defenders, and save lives by stopping this bill -- sign now here, then tell friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_for_tolerance/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

With hope and determination,

Alice, Ricken, Ben, Paul, Benjamin, Pascal, Raluca, Graziela and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES

African letter to Ugandan President to throw out Anti-homosexual bill: Uganda -- Anti-homosexuality bill violates human rights:
http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=22761

Ugandan church leader brands anti-gay bill 'genocide':
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/dec/04/gideon-byamugisha-homosexuality-bill

Human Rights Impact Assessment of Uganda's Anti-homosexuality Bill By Sylvia Tamale, The Dean of Law at Uganda's Makerere University:
http://www.zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/human-rights-impact-assessment-ugandas-anti-homosexuality-bill-sylvia-tamal

----------------

Why?

2010-02-08T18:49:00.004+01:00

Lying on the floor with no possibilities of breathing, he saw me approaching him... He moved a little but the pain was too strong for a run... I putted my hands on him... and he shivered for a few seconds... Trusting, he let me heal him, he let our energies feed until he was confortable, until he could breathe again... His sad eyes looked at me but his expression of fear and desperation was not towards me... His wise and old eyes were tired of feeling weak, not heard and not cared for... No one respected him... In his eyes was a question... a question with no answer and hurtful: Why?

To follow

2010-02-07T19:54:00.000+01:00

To follow your heart... listen... trust... love...

Don't Go Away

2010-02-05T21:22:00.000+01:00

This music speaks for itself...

Words on eternity

2010-02-03T23:41:00.000+01:00

The caress of a new book feels the air... It is on the table looking forward to be picked as the next in line...

There was a book given to me by my sister... I have it for more than one month, but only now I was able to start reading it... and I did not stop until I finished it...

Books are sacred... I believe I have said this before in some other post... they are a companion and sometimes (if not always) a best friend... But mostly they are a flirt, a passion and a lover... The feeling of starting a new book, is like starting a new relationship... new people in our lives... we laught and we cry with then... we hope and we despair with them... and in the end we miss them...

Books give us a different world of different realities...

Books breath knowledge and learning

Books feel stories, myths and history

Books are shadows and projections of us

Books do create life...

Well... I think that I just wanted to thank about their existence and to all the people who write them and give us, even if for a short periode of time, the emotion, pleasure and the love of reading... and also the eternity of it...

Imbolc

2010-01-31T11:42:00.004+01:00

Imbolc is celebrated on 1/2 February and is the time of the year where the days grow longer and when spring starts to manifest.

This day marks the festival of Brigid, a Celtic Triple Goddess: Goddess of Healing (healers, medicine, spiritual healing, fertility), of Inspiration and Poetry (poets, poetry, creativity, prophecy, arts) and of Smith Crafts (blacksmiths, goldsmiths, household crafts).

In this day celebrations are made to honour the Goddess, Woman and the coming Spring.

Fire and purification are an important aspect of this celebration. The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months.

To celebrate this day many activities can be performed such as:

- planting seeds (herbs and flowers) and also psychic seeds (hopes and dreams),

- a 1-3 day of water fast for healing and renewal,

- make up a bed for a visitor,

- fix something broken,

- cleaning up fields and home,

- putting out food (glass of milk and a slice of bread with butter) as an offering to the Goddess, so we can be blessed by Her,

- Dancing as many hours as you can to cleanse and renew your body,

- ...

On Brigid’s Day, Selena Fox, (http://www.mhtc.net/~selena/index.html) recommends:

“Do a self purification rite with Elemental tools–

cleanse your body with salt (Earth)

your thoughts with incense (Air)

your will with a candle flame (Fire)

your emotions with water (Water)

and your spiritual body with a healing crystal (Spirit)

Bless candles that you will be using for rituals throughout the year.

Invoke Brigid for creative inspiration.

Take a Nature walk and look for the first signs of Spring.”

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Nineteen Candles Are Lit For Brigid

Note: Here are the 19 priestesses represented. In a dedication to Brigid, an invocation for healing, or prior to initiation where Brigid will be asked for blessing, or in celebration of Herself, spelled candles so imbued might be used. Packets of the 19 may be made for Bridgit dedicants, also, and so blessed.

Your first candle lit is your sunrise birth: the flame of your house reaching Ceugant's brow.
Second is the spark of your union with Bress, son of Elathan.
Third is the pillar of fire, as you took the veil, rising high and clear.
Fourth are brothers, Dagda the father, Broadb the Red, Medar, Ogma, and Aenghus.
Fifth is eternal life's spring: that sings your name, in crystal gaze.
Sixth is the flame on your Altar, that never dies.
Seventh is the grove at LLandwynwn, on Mora's shore, where lovers tryst.
Eight is the strength of your oxen of Dil - Fea and Fernea, the red and the black.
Ninth is the sigh of your breath, as new life grows from old, your bridge of truth.
Tenth is a milk white cow, of redden ears, the Earth Mother's nectar, sweet.
Eleventh is a girdle, that spans night and day, yet heals all and remains.
Twelfth is a veil of truth, in flowering thorn, your weary path.
Thirteen is your son Ruardan, to be reborn.
Fourteenth is the white light of the flowering word, born at sunrise - the molten sky.
Fifteenth is the grove at Kildare, with solid oak and crystal spring.
Sixteenth are the shrines throughout Aibion, in Church, Well, and Wall.
Seventeenth is your will, of black iron, forged in the determination of one thousand eyes.
Eighteenth is a healing - the white dog at the protal, the chalice of your smile.
Nineteenth is a clarach which spells - hours, days, and signs, all in a silver bough.
Your last is your first, the begining of the turning sea, the ending of the three. The dancing sun in the hearts of all! The candle that never dies!

by Colin Murray, found in Philip Carr-Gomm's The Druid Way

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Imbolc Blessings to All!!!

Misteries

2010-01-28T18:28:00.001+01:00

This photo was taken in September 2009 by Mafalda Seguro

The Man of the White Robe

2010-01-27T22:06:00.001+01:00

Walking around and spinning around

The wheel turns and transforms

The years pass by... life remains

While the beauty of the earth endure in time

Memories and history prevail in the old man

Full of stories... legends... and memories.. to tell

Bright colours fill the air

While a little child waits in the grove

Joy and excitement fill her eyes

Looking to the man of the white robe to pass by

The man walks and lies one hand

A blessing is given... a journey to start

A new beggining in the wheel of time...

We are all one

2010-01-24T11:58:00.001+01:00

his video was taken from: http://www.weareallone-support.org/

Film contents

Speaker: Indigenous Native American Prophecy, 0:00 - 1:22 Red Crow Westerman. 1:33 - 9:53 Oren Lyons.

Photo: (Planet Earth) Award-winning BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough and produced by Alastair Fothergill

Soundtrack: From the movie Patch Adams. Contains Music by Various Artists, Marc Shaiman

Edited, synced and cut by: Anders Fredblad 4 december 2008 Sweden

Guaranteed to touch the heart and inspire the mind,

this incredible short film shares an Indigenous Native American Prophecy that links all of life and the future of our planet.

Snow and imagination...

2010-01-22T15:41:00.001+01:00

This photo was taken in December 2009, in Risskov by Mafalda Seguro

A perspective of night

2010-01-22T15:36:00.002+01:00

When the sun comes down a new life, a parallel life, happens.

Is not that this life does not happen in the day light, it does, but our senses are not so open... at night, we are alert, we are awake.

Is just like the animals, at night they are awake, aware of their surroundings and conscious of several dangers. They would rest but not a quiet rest.

And so we are all the same... but now we have houses, beds, the feeling of protection and so we sleep. An entire night of sleep… or not... our spirit and soul (or unconscious if it is a better notion) are still aware, and we can see it by our dreams or when we wake up in the next day more tired than when we went to sleep.
We are visited by all the beings that we do not see or look during the day, so they come to us at night… giving us some awareness even if we do not remember it in the morning after… we dream with animals, with the elements, with trees and plants, with rocks and water…

There are some common dreams… we are flying… we are falling from a big rock or mountain… we are surrounded by fire… we are together with animals, they tell us something and give us signals that most of the time we do not recognize or understand… we meet people from our pass, present and future because we need answers, closure, acceptance or understanding… we are free… we also dream with what we do not have or we wish for... with the pass, present and future...

Why is that? A way to show us how it could be? The way we feel if we had it in our lives!

Or when we are outside in the night, and every sound and movement are bigger than we had imagined… The fear takes over... the courage resists to it... and we give steps in the darkness… to the unknown… Everything happens with the porpoise of making us awake to another reality… and not to fall in the waters of the forgetting and memories…

The gift of memories, remembering, dreams, ideas...

The night… the moon… the stars… what would be of us without them and without their impact?

A message

2010-01-21T21:10:00.000+01:00

Today I would like to leave a message from others... They are from this world and were here way before any of us were born... They live among us... They are everywhere...

I was thinking about my day, in people dynamics, and in how it seems that everyone knows where to go and to do... Sometimes I feel weird because I just go with the wind and the seasons... I have dreams... I have hopes... and plans... but when I look around, it seems different, as if everything was easier to others and not to me... Which is an ilusion...

So, there I was... just walking... and I was thinking about this, feeling sorry about how life is, insted of cherrish it... An emotion took over me... My heart warm up and raced... and then... the voices came...

Way to simple...

More simple than that...

Just because...

We are here

We feel

We grow

We give

We receive

We nurture

We share

We feed

We exist

We warm

We believe

We seed

We knowledge

We are wise

We know all the history

We love...

We suffer...

We love even more...

We are here... and we are the last ones to leave...

This voices... Strong and proud... from some of the Sons of the Earth...

This is a prayer... Thank you...

Life

2010-01-20T21:44:00.000+01:00

Life will start flourish as the time goes by... as hearts are beating together... as tears are shed with pride... as the sound of the Earth is heard and never forgotten again!

Masks

2010-01-16T13:48:00.000+01:00

How can a person unlock her own mind, heart and spirit?

How can a person fight and defend against herself?

We are the product of our thoughts, beliefs, values and fears... But fears are locked in a shell with no easy access... fears are locked in the mist of our behaviours, actions and emotions! To face them, is to face our worst enemy... Ourselves... we tend to hide... we tend to lie... and we tend to pretend... but to the self not to others! There is a thin line between what we thing we are with what we really are... are we strong enought to cross it? Have we the courage to it? Are we going to be the same after?

How many masks are in each one of us???

What do you wish for?

2010-01-13T15:19:00.001+01:00

We take our lives for granted.... and we should not... We live our lives with the fear of tomorrow... and we should not... We are what we are, we have feelings, memories, knowledge, body, spirit, soul, family, friends... and most of the time we do not value that...we do not value ourselves...

"What do you wish for'" Most of the people ask

"Money..." Many answer... "A new house... A new car... A new job..." Others add...

And then... there is a earthquake... a tsunami... a loved one dies... something happens that we cannot control...

"What do you wish for now?"

You wonder... I wonder... life is priceless... such are family and friends... such are memories, knowledge and feelings... such is all the rest that we should have wished... when nothing else matters in the middle of a loss... We are what we wish for... and this has many meanings...

Our lives are not for granted... tomorrow is nothing to be feared... and today... Today is the most precious moment of our lives!

Transformation

2010-01-09T13:57:00.002+01:00

The pain is too much to be measure

the entire body is trembling with it

How can I be free of this?

That my head would go back to blank

that my life would again be in my possession

that my wishes were simple

that my life would not be so overwhelming

that I could not feel the pain of others...

But then... I would not have it...

The feeling of solitude... and love...

The fresh breeze in the morning would not feel the same

The despair can take over but the light is there if I look

The all the time changes are been painfull and fast

In the end... it will never end...

The transformation is happening...

The time is short...

The body is in pain... but the heart and soul are hopeful...

I am not walking alone...

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

Time...

2010-01-05T16:38:00.000+01:00

Lost in the idea of time...

What is it after all?

Past? Future? People keep living in one or another?

What they lost and what they aim for...

Why do we all ignore the present and the possibilities of the now?

Now is where we are... Now is what can change what happened and what can be...

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T23:14:00.000+01:00

As we say goodbye to a cicle we welcome another one... Another cicle as many others in our lives...

All I wish for this year to me and to everyone else is... LOVE! Let it grow in you and share it with others... It will make a difference in you and all around you!

Happy new year!!!

Winter Solstice - Alban Arthan

2009-12-20T23:21:00.002+01:00

The longest night of the year is coming... Night is beautiful and misterious... Every secret kept is sacred, as all little and big beings that show themselves during this time of the day... imagination... dream... ilusion... reality... but, if it is so, why the heart races that way? Is not fear... is not antecipation... is something assumed, recognized and something that we do not know how to name...

Whatever it is, is not harmfull... it watches and in a way protects...

This is a great time of the year to recognize what we fear and what worry us... after that we can work on it so the energy can be changed and transformed in something positive as a solution, a different perspective on the problem or something else... And that way the light can shine again!

The night... Oh the night... The one that is fearless... and the one that is also misterious and enchanted... How would be the light without the darkness? How would be our lives without adversities that can chalenge us to develop ourselves?

That is what this time of the year symbolizes! The darkest night, and the return of the light! Our lives can also be described like the wheel of the year...

Blessings of Alban Arthan to everyone!!!

Sleep... and dream...

2009-12-19T23:35:00.000+01:00

Sleep now... Sleep and have sweet and wonderfull dreams... where you run through a world of peace and love... where your children can learn what was lost and now was refound, and be happy and play as children should play, outside, where dangers are not aloud and do not exist...
Sleep... and that your dream can embrace a pure state of harmony... where you live in a world built of love...
Sleep... and when you wake up, do not forget it... and make it real!
Our mind is powerful... our dreams are another reality, a possible reality of what can be and what could be... our actions can change a lifetime... and we... we are... all!

Help Save Copenhagen

2009-12-16T16:13:00.000+01:00

How to keep us all safe

Hi,

I just joined over 11 million people in the world's largest-ever campaign to keep us all safe.

There has never been a more important time to add your name - our message is being delivered to leaders at the Copenhagen climate summit later this week.

Please add your voice now at

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_copenhagen/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thanks!

With three days to go, the crucial Copenhagen summit is failing.

Tomorrow, the world's leaders arrive for an unprecedented 60 hours of direct negotiations. Experts agree that without a tidal wave of public pressure for a deal, the summit will not stop catastrophic global warming of 2 degrees.

Click below to sign the petition for a real deal in Copenhagen -- the campaign already has a staggering 10 million supporters - let's make it the largest petition in history in the next 72 hours! Every single name is actually being read out at the summit -- sign on at the link below and forward this email to everyone!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_copenhagen/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

An Avaaz team is meeting daily with negotiators inside the summit who will organize a spectacular petition delivery to world leaders as they arrive, building a giant wall of boxes of names and reading out the names of every person who signs. With the largest petition in history, leaders will have no doubt that the whole world is watching.

Millions watched the Avaaz vigil inside the summit on TV yesterday, where Archbishop Desmond Tutu told hundreds of delegates and assembled children:

“We marched in Berlin, and the wall fell.
"We marched for South Africa, and apartheid fell.
"We marched at Copenhagen -- and we WILL get a Real Deal.”

Copenhagen is seeking the biggest mandate in history to stop the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. History will be made in the next few days. How will our children remember this moment? Let's tell them we did all we could.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_copenhagen/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

With hope,

Ricken, Alice, Ben, Paul, Luis, Iain, Veronique, Graziela, Pascal, Paula, Benjamin, Raj, Raluca, Taren, David, Josh and the whole Avaaz team.

-------------------

First snow of the season...

2009-12-16T15:36:00.001+01:00

Tonight I could not sleep... My cat was playing at the window trying to catch snow flakes from outside. She did some noise against the window, but mostly I could not sleep because I was watching the snow...

Snow fell for hours, at least for 7 hours. Outside everything was quiet except the constant white coming down starting to paint wherever it touched. I could feel the earth receiving the snow... such pure caress and solitude, cleaning all the bad dreams and feelings and leaving the feeling of peace and quiet, harmony and tenderness.

In the morning while I made my way to the bus stop, in every step I made my feet were under snow... Waiting for the bus, I was smilling... the rest of the people were with their normal faces like if it was really boring to have snow all around them... Can not they feel the beauty of it? The wonder of the first snow of the season?

Reality or imagination?

2009-12-12T00:54:00.000+01:00

How often can people say that they are thinking about something when their head is blank? Is that even possible or is just with me?

In these moments where I am in one place and suddenly I am in another, without been in a dream. It is amazing how life can be so multifaceted and multidimensional. It makes me wonder if it is all a dream, reality, otherworld, illusion, or any kind of craziness. I think it is a little of all, and we just have to shake them together and we have a really juicy life, even if not visible in everyone’s eyes.

Creativity may be the word or is just another perspective of the reality. Who knows???

Breath

2009-12-06T23:04:00.000+01:00

The body shakes it self with much strength... The eyes fill with tears ready to come out... The breath is hard and painfull... The fear takes over and controls everything!

Close eyes... light is coming... let it in... Green pastures are ahead... Trees will shelter who seeks... In the lake lies the path... Breath once... the water is a crystal blue... cold and pure... Breath twice... body is under the water... cleaning ad healing... nurturing and growing... Breath three times... a song under starts rising in the body... light fills it and loves it... come out of the water and feel the sun in the body... look to the body and see that it sparks and shines... it is not body... is the spirit in all things that lives in us and in everything around us!

Give, ask, share and be light! Life turns to be cherished and loved!

Where are you to hold my hand?

2009-12-05T11:32:00.000+01:00

In the woods from my past I see the shadows

Looking to the trees in the dark they seem diferent

At the door I wait until no one is looking