Céad Míle Fáilte ~ A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

Here we seek a rest in the shade, some cool water and a little kindness. This blog is dedicated to peace, truth, justice and a post- industrial, post-petroleum illumined world in spite of all odds against it. I very much like the line about the ancient knight (see poem below) "His helmet now shall make a hive for bees" It is reminiscent of "beating swords into ploughshares" a sentiment I heartily approve of. Thank you for visiting ~ I hope you return!

Waterfall Animation Pictures, Images and Photos

Saturday, October 30, 2010

New Theory of Everything


If you have ever sat up reading books like God and the New Cosmology, The Tao of Physics or The Dancing Wu Li Masters, listen up. If you follow the attempts of certain physicists, in the off duty hours, to discover a theory beyond quantum physics, this might just be for you. It does bend my brain pretty far, but, hey, that's good for you!



The author, who writes the above blog anonymously, is presently a tenure-track Assistant Professor in a basic science department at a major medical school in the United States of America. He performed predoctoral studies in human molecular virology and cancer etiology, received his doctorate in yeast genetics, biochemistry and cell biology, and completed postdoctoral studies in fly biochemistry, molecular, cellular, and developmental biology in the late 20th century.
He has extensive experience in journal publishing, having authored or co-authored 16 peer-reviewed articles over the course of 15 years. He has also authored ~15 research grants over 12 years, 3 of which were awarded by the National Institutes of Health.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Crone of Autumn

"Season of the Crone"Poem by Gerina Dunwitch

Crone of Samhain's spellbound cold,
in Her cauldron of black are told
secrets ancient, truths and tales:
mystery Her light unveils.
She is wisdom, She is changes:
time and space
She rearranges.
In Her hands, the card of Death,
for transformation is Her breath.
Crone of Samhain, Grandmother wise,
look into Her gargoyle eyes.
Let Her lessons teach you well:
life is but a magick spell.







"Samhain Goddess: The Crone" by
Arwens Grace (Angela Jayne Barnett)












Our modern-day Halloween celebration comes from the ancient Celtic holiday called Samhain (SOW-en). October 31 was the Celtic New Year's Eve, the end of the year. This is the time of the season which the Crone rules.The Crone is one aspect of the triple Goddess, made up of Maiden, and Mother and Crone. Essayist Christina Aubin says it is the Crone who "opens the Western gate for those who have departed to travel into Summerland. She rules areas of death and regeneration, occult sciences, healing, and the wisdom of the ages . . . . We use the Crone to assist us in transition from one life to the next, leaving one level of our existence and entering the next. This brings us into the Womb of the Mother to assist us in being reborn once again. For it is through Her Wisdom and guidance we learn lessons from experience past and begin life anew from the wisdom gained."

Crone Pictures, Images and Photos

The Crone is known by many names. To the ancient Greeks, she was Hecate. With her black cloak whipping about her and her black dogs beside her, Hecate's territory was the wild night and the crossroads. She can manifest with three heads - lioness, mare and dog.
Cerridwen, "the bent white one", is a Welsh Crone Goddess. Cerridwen's name shows she's a moon-goddess. This Crone keeps the cauldron of inspiration and transformation. Into the cauldron the Crone throws many things, to mix and stew and come out changed.

Cerridwen Pictures, Images and Photos
The modern incomplete version of The Crone is the mean, ugly old witch flying on a broom stick across the moon. With her cackling laugh, her stringy gray hair, hairy chin and warts, she frightens children away. After all, isn't she the Hag with the poison apple?

Writer Scott Cunningham suggests we look at the "ugly" Witch figures as symbols of the Crone: "See the blackness of the clothing as the blackness of the sky during the waning moon. See the hat as a symbol of her life: as the Maiden at its brim, as the Mother at its midpoint, and finally as the Crone at its top. See the broom, if any, as a symbol of the Crone's ability to travel backward in time to retrieve of experience. Her white hair represents the moon. The cat is her companion, a minion of the night."Most importantly, see within that face—however disfigured it may seem to be—her determination and fire, her caring for her children, and the wisdom and strength that she's acquired. If it's green, see it as the green of the Earth, the coming fertility of the Maiden and the Mother that she'll bear anew at the first quarter of the moon."
cerridwen_gr.jpg Pictures, Images and Photos

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I'm Back!

< Galway Bay

After a much-needed half year hiatus from blogging, I am back with the blogging-as-spiritual-practice-meme and I'm ready to go. One thing that I wish for and hope for is more readers and more input from the readers I have, so don't be shy ~ express yourself. I do need to moderate comments before I publish, however, a few jerks and spammers made that necessary. So if you don't see it up, just wait a half day or so and return, it should be there by then.

Themes for this season are Celtic and Native American art and spirituality, towards unity through peace and peace through unity.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Namaste ~

Deborah (also known in some circles as annieokra)

below: Cross at Saint Kevin's in Glendalough, County Wicklow


St. Kevins Monastery Pictures, Images and Photos