Istanbul
Unless some surprise happens in the next 48 hours, this song is the last of the cycle. It's now Septmber 1st, and I'll be heading towards home soon.
By the time I arrived in Istanbul, I had come to peace with my aloneness, and had given up all thoughts of making new friends, finding a lover or staying in places with a social focus. I checked into a cheap hotel, chosen mainly for the air conditioning! I had decided to embrace the Hermit archetype, at least for the time being. I spent some time reading various explainations and interpretations of the Hermit tarot card on the internet, and from the booklet which accompanies the Cosmic Tarot - my other summer companion besides my drum. All the key ideas which really spoke to me were woven into the song.
The decision to do the research and move into claiming the archetype happened via another magic I had been working throughout the summer. Each place I stayed for at least a full day, I gathered some small bit - a stone, a trinket, a small pendant, a shell... and always it was chosen to remind me of something I had learned in that place - the "message" I received as a result of that part of the pilgrimage.
Istanbul was the last stop on the journey, and so when I went to the Grand Bazaar, I was on the lookout for what would be the final piece of the puzzle. To my surprise, I found a tiny lamp, just like the Hermit holds in the tarot card. I have never seen anything like it! Here's what I wrote that evening...
"...a tiny gold lantern with a candle inside! (It's interesting to note that everything else I have chosen that was metal is silver...) It took some meditation to accept - and the final message is that I AM the Hermit. I am somewhere "between" in life. Between identifying with being young or old. Between in terms of being un/settled where I live, with regards to having a lover. Philosophically I'm in transition... the list goes on. The little candle inside reminds me to "come with my essence unveiled" and shine the light I am to the world. There are also 2 faint lines crossing behind the candle - to remind me that there are invisible forces who "have my back".
So... if you like, drop in for a visit or give me a ring sometime. I'm settled into solitude and comuning with my Muse :)
(Of course, it occurs to me that in 48 hours I will be hanging out with good friends in Washinton D.C., then onward to Hawaii for 6 days of work in the schools, then to Earthfire in Australia, then I'll facilitate the Discovery program for 100 teens and 40 staff, and then co-present two corporate trainings. Finally I will return to Hawaii and then we'll see if I am still the Hermit. Certainly the archetype serves as a great closing sumnation for the work I have invested my summer in - Hermit on the path!
I have a dream of gathering you all together, on retreat somewhere for a week. I would be so delighted to have us play with the musical ideas here, and record the results "in the moment". That's the CD I would love to release! Part of the dream is that we would get together every now and then, and do the same for and with each other, contributing our considerable collective juice to each other's musical projects. Maybe a week before or after a Winter Solstice in Hawaii....?
The tale of Summer 2007 ends here... and many more chants have emerged since, which will all be posted to this blog eventually.
it's a time for introspection
a time for deep reflection
i'm all alone but i'm at home with me
you see
i'm ruminating, taking stock
thinking 'bout my life
i'm settling into solitude
and communing with my muse
1..2..3..4..
D.C.C.C.DD.D Soli
Unless some surprise happens in the next 48 hours, this song is the last of the cycle. It's now Septmber 1st, and I'll be heading towards home soon.
By the time I arrived in Istanbul, I had come to peace with my aloneness, and had given up all thoughts of making new friends, finding a lover or staying in places with a social focus. I checked into a cheap hotel, chosen mainly for the air conditioning! I had decided to embrace the Hermit archetype, at least for the time being. I spent some time reading various explainations and interpretations of the Hermit tarot card on the internet, and from the booklet which accompanies the Cosmic Tarot - my other summer companion besides my drum. All the key ideas which really spoke to me were woven into the song.
The decision to do the research and move into claiming the archetype happened via another magic I had been working throughout the summer. Each place I stayed for at least a full day, I gathered some small bit - a stone, a trinket, a small pendant, a shell... and always it was chosen to remind me of something I had learned in that place - the "message" I received as a result of that part of the pilgrimage.
Istanbul was the last stop on the journey, and so when I went to the Grand Bazaar, I was on the lookout for what would be the final piece of the puzzle. To my surprise, I found a tiny lamp, just like the Hermit holds in the tarot card. I have never seen anything like it! Here's what I wrote that evening...
"...a tiny gold lantern with a candle inside! (It's interesting to note that everything else I have chosen that was metal is silver...) It took some meditation to accept - and the final message is that I AM the Hermit. I am somewhere "between" in life. Between identifying with being young or old. Between in terms of being un/settled where I live, with regards to having a lover. Philosophically I'm in transition... the list goes on. The little candle inside reminds me to "come with my essence unveiled" and shine the light I am to the world. There are also 2 faint lines crossing behind the candle - to remind me that there are invisible forces who "have my back".
So... if you like, drop in for a visit or give me a ring sometime. I'm settled into solitude and comuning with my Muse :)
(Of course, it occurs to me that in 48 hours I will be hanging out with good friends in Washinton D.C., then onward to Hawaii for 6 days of work in the schools, then to Earthfire in Australia, then I'll facilitate the Discovery program for 100 teens and 40 staff, and then co-present two corporate trainings. Finally I will return to Hawaii and then we'll see if I am still the Hermit. Certainly the archetype serves as a great closing sumnation for the work I have invested my summer in - Hermit on the path!
I have a dream of gathering you all together, on retreat somewhere for a week. I would be so delighted to have us play with the musical ideas here, and record the results "in the moment". That's the CD I would love to release! Part of the dream is that we would get together every now and then, and do the same for and with each other, contributing our considerable collective juice to each other's musical projects. Maybe a week before or after a Winter Solstice in Hawaii....?
The tale of Summer 2007 ends here... and many more chants have emerged since, which will all be posted to this blog eventually.
Much Love
m
(...the very last sign I saw in Europe while boarding the plane)
LYRICS:
it's a time for introspection
a time for deep reflection
i'm all alone but i'm at home with me
you see
i'm ruminating, taking stock
thinking 'bout my life
i'm settling into solitude
and communing with my muse
1..2..3..4..
D.C.C.C.DD.D Soli
(There is a newer version of this chant here.)
No comments:
Post a Comment