Yesterday the day started with ten young co-eds from a Jesuit college descending on the house as part of a city wide volunteer fair. They came to create blankets for the project I had started with a few friends in response to hurricane Katrina. Our website, theblanketproject.com is up and running, and hopefully soon people will be able to upload pictures of the blankets they are doing onto the site. It’s just the kind of pragmatic magic I like. It serves a purpose, and it’s a spell to blanket the country in warmth, kindness and compassion. The blankets that have come in have been beautiful, with great designs and powerful sentiments attached. The young women jumped right in, and in a few hours there were several unique blankets that not only will keep those who survived that hurricane warm, but are works of art as well.
It was a warm day, and with that very specific golden thickening of the air that is particular to this season. The dead are pouring on in through the veil. As the young women sewed and chatted, Fern and I created our house altar for the dead. We set out a fine place setting and filled the plate with pomegranates and chocolate and filled a glass to the brim with dark rum. The offerings may change between now and Samhain, but it was clear that today was the day we needed to start feeding the dead.
Lucy dropped by, and then
The volunteers left and then the unexpected happened. Lyra’s roommate came over to cut Fern’s hair and I ended up getting a cut as well. Jesse is completely untrained, and her cuts are wild art installations. Somehow they work well, managing to be unusual but also attractive. Maybe it was the dead, maybe it was the fact that my divorce had become finalized on Yom Kippur, but something told me the beginning of this New Year calls for a new do. A lot of dead weight came off, and my hair feels and is acting more alive. It’s spirited!
I then spent some hours in my studio working on my new bottle. This one is dedicated to the spirits of rebirth/renewal. As I made it, a new bottle demanded to be made, one devoted to Marie Laveau. Marie Laveau made sure I woke up and took notice.
Early into the evening Denise talked me going with her to see if we could slide into the talk that the astrologer Caroline Casey was giving at the Bioneers conference. Everything lined up to make this as smooth as possible, we even got a parking spot right out front. Caroline covered a lot of ground, but spent considerable time praising and invoking Marie Laveau, saying that given Marie’s chart, she’s really up to some work right now. Caroline’s talk addressed so much of what my day had focused on as well;
2 comments:
Pics! We need pics of your new hairdo! At least I do.
'What the Bleep' is a fantastic film, one which has had a profound impact on how I view the world. My encounter with the film came at the same time as I bought a book by Deepak Chopra. I was drawn to buy the book but unsure as to why, having heard of Chopra but not really knowing what the guy was about. The book is 'The Book of Secrets' and I commend it to you as a perfect companion to the film, although the two are not intended to parallel each other. They just do.
Both book and film have had major impact upon my poetry, and my thinking. I'm less and less inclined towards a narrow self-definition as witch, or gay, or even male and moving towards something which has no label, is much, much bigger and has infinitely more potential as I walk through life than any label I have claimed for myself before. Truth reveals itself in marvellous ways, even through painful experiences (which I've had a share of, of late).
And I agree with Reya: hair pics, please! As an ex-hairdresser myself (if one can ever be such, as the training remains in place even when you move on to other things) I am keen to see this wildly-inspired creation! xx
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