Friday, May 29, 2009

The writings of Helen Luke

If you have not yet discovered Helen Luke, you have a rare treat in store.

Helen Luke who was trained in the work of Carl Gustav Jung, came to live at Apple Farm in Three Rivers, Michigan in 1962. All of her books and writings, articles, and interviews are listed on the Apple Farm website along with several essays which can be downloaded. I highly recommend everything she has written and would be hard put to even list favorites. Her biography, Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of and the video "A Sense of the Sacred" are excellent. She possessed a deep understandings of symbolism and meaning and had a beautiful gift for expressing this with clarity and grace. Below are just a few more titles:

Dark Wood to White Rose: Journey and Transformation in Dante's Divine Comedy
The Inner Story: Myth and Symbol in the Bible and Literature
Kaleidoscope: The Way of Woman and Other Essays
Old Age: Journey into Simplicity
The Way of Woman: Awakening the Perennial Feminine (Book Review at http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com)
Woman Earth And Spirit: The Feminine in Symbol and Myth


Writings about Water

The newest issue, Summer 2009, of Parabola Magazine is all about water. I found every single article fascinating and wonderful.

There are two articles from a Taoist perspective. Here is a short quote to whet your interest (and the source of this blog's title):

It is externalities that are caught up in all kinds of happenings–
The Tao itself is without mind.
Realizing this, one may put on
sleeves of light feathers and
be clothed in wind.
–Zhang Rong

Sophia and the Divine Feminine

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Robert Powell, the founder of the Sophia Foundation of North America. His work seeks to further the spiritual development of each individual and to cultivate world consciousness of Sophia, Divine Wisdom, through religion, philosophy, science and art. He has written several very interesting and thoughtful books, among them are:
The Mystery, Biography & Destiny of Mary Magdalene, The Most Holy Trinosophia and the New Revelation of the Divine Feminine, and The Sophia Teachings.

His work also includes several in-depth works involving esoteric astrology and a type of movement called Choreocosmos and much more.

Lithuanian Museum of Ancient Beekeeping

It is worth going to this wikipage for the beautiful picture of carved beehives.

As of 2006, the museum consisted of six buildings, about 500 displays, and 25 sculptures. In addition to illustrating the history of beekeeping in Lithuania, some of the museum's wooden sculptures themselves contain beehives. The sculptures pay homage to the honeybee's place in worldwide mythology and folklore, including Egyptian and Native American figures as well as the Lithuanian god Babilas and goddess Austėja. They were carved by Teofilis Patiejūnas and Ipolitas Užkurnis.

The honeybee is a symbol of friendship in Lithuania; the word bičiulis is an affectionate form of address. In 2005 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko presented Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus with three beehives and bees, which were brought to the museum.

The museum is open from May to October. A Honey Harvest festival is held in August, and the museum features a "Honey Bar".

Peace Fleece

If you like knitting or felting, this is a gem of a place and not the usual kind of yarn company!

The Peace Fleece offices are in a barn on a sheep and horse farm in the small, rural town of Porter in the foothills of southwestern Maine. Peter Hagerty and his wife Marty Tracy started buying wool from the Soviet Union back in 1985 in hopes that through trade they could help diffuse the threat of nuclear war. Since then Peter has journeyed through eastern Europe, central Asia and the Middle East in search of farmers and shepherds who are willing to set aside historic enmities in exchange for opportunities leading to mutual understanding and economic interdependence.

Peace Fleece offers knitting yarn made from a blend of Russian, Romanian, American, Israeli and Palestinian wools as well as felting supplies, batts for quilters, Russian handpainted knitting needles and wooden buttons, patterns, knitting and felting kits and batting and raw fleeces for hand spinners.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Honey and Dust: Travels in Search of Sweetness by Piers Moore Ede

Unusual story about a man, Piers Moore Ede, who after a near fatal bicycling accident in San Francisco, returns to England for rehabilitation and begins a new life. His journey takes him to Tuscany where he apprentices with a beekeeper on a small organic farm and from there he goes off in pursuit of people who still use traditional methods of beekeeping all over the world. His travels take him to Syria, Nepal, Sri Lanka and more.

Animal photographs by Nick Brandt

Truly beautiful sepia tinted portraits of animals in Africa. I bought a copy and unbound the pages so I could frame them. He has a new book, called "A Shadow Falls" coming out in September, 2009.

The Bee Photographer

These are truly awesome photographs of bees and honey gathering from around the world. Men hanging on ropes off cliffs in Nepal and women who keep bees in terra cotta jars in Mexico. Be sure and check out "At a Glance" and look at the link for each country and also the "Photo Library" pages.