I have a friend, Peninsolar, who’s been navigating a new life in Sweden after unexpected dislocation. Peninsolar is an artist who works in sound and images, an explorer and interpreter of big thoughts and intriguing places. He sent me images of early snows there, signaling the winter storytelling season. I felt transformed by the window he offered into his world. There was magic, and he was happy to allow me to share it with you. The delicate branches and ancient stones carry a spirit of play and the heft of time. Surprises await where light and optics unexpectedly shift our view of “reality” to make space for gratitude even in times of loss.
I have another friend, also an artist, who works in pen and ink. She’s incredibly adept at simplifying complex ideas, even my expansive ramblings on human capital finance! Sometimes Eve travels to Philadelphia, and today we were able to hug and nibble cheese and cucumber slices and cookies and talk about her planned follow-up to that first amazing zine. I left with a bag of shells she’d gathered from the coast of Florida on a beach above which rockets are sometimes launched (feature image). I will take these delicate, iridescent, spiral messages west with me to Tucson to set an intention at the Cochise Stronghold. Southern Arizona is a land of dark skies dominated by searching telescopes built on sacred lands that look and look and look without truly seeing.
If you are in the US and enjoying a long weekend, you may enjoy the conversation Cliff and I had examining the Sky Woman origin story and Julian Huxley’s imperative towards “progress” – as much as possible as fast as possible. If you feel you’re in a position to do so and wish to honor the lands upon which we live, you might consider sending some gratitude to my friend Chas Jewett, Cheyenne River water protector, @chas-jewett-1 on Venmo.
To compliment the sparkling shells, crystalline greetings from Sweden. Thank you Peninsolar!
Oh the snow! Heavy as she goes. Such beauty. Thanks for this moving narrative.
Wow, so many lovely words that you truly are very gifted at conveying so cohesively time & time again, my friend. Just magical. Well, on the inside of mercy, when the cybernetics aren’t trying to steer us elsewhere, there are many many thaumaturgical photographs to be taken looking around the labyrinth and I’m undoubtedly honoured for your particular choices of the ongoing omnium-gatherum of crystalline memoirs along the local omniscient tundras.
Ironically, some of my first songs were written about my childhood collecting shells with my mother around San Juan on the shorelines of seagulls and sand, & being a third generation Floridian I can certainly relate to this wonderful seashell mélange. I certainly hope to see your own fenestella in the sacred world of the Cochise Stronghold upon your return if possible. Thank you again for this wonderful post and for the blessing of your friendship these past few years. You are doing the sacred work that will stand as testament of this transformative time & I’d be delighted to listen to Sky Woman, Huxley and Fitness Landscapes discussing the plan afoot for this so-called “cybernetic guiding of human evolution” straight away.
Thanks Alison!
Thanks for all your interesting mindmaps, Alison!
Greetings from Sweden!
Mike
https://youtu.be/UpmeswMK7cY
The Spirit Song – A Nordic Lullaby – Dimmornas visa
► Lyrics in Swedish + English translation (Text and music: Jonna Jinton)
Så lilla vän
(Sweet friend)
Dimman för dig hem igen
(The mist will carry you home again)
Om du går vilse
(If you get lost)
Natten är lång
(The night is long)
Tusen stjärnors urtidssång
(The ancient song of a thousand stars)
Dimmorna dansar
(The mist is dancing)
Sov lilla vän
(Sleep little friend)
Skogen vaktar, värmer dig
(The forest guards you, and keep you warm)
Om du är frusen
(If you are cold)
Norrskensljus
(Northern lights)
Dansar över skog och fjäll
(Dancing over the forest and mountains)
Brinner i natten
(Burning in the night)
Så lilla vän
(Sweet friend)
Dimman för dig hem igen
(The mist will carry you home again)
Om du går vilse
(If you get lost)