Fifty days..day 29

Do you believe in God? Why or why not?

I do. I can’t not. I tried for a while in high-school, just as I tried to get addicted to coffee or to cigarettes at times, when I though it’d be more dramatic.  I'm Catholic and I love my church, it's so full. Not believing in God would be, for me, like not believing in my husband, or in my daughter; it isn’t something I can do, for which I’m eternally grateful.

What else is there to do when it’s raining but make pretty pictures out of life?

Fantasy & Folklore: A Sense of Symbolism

“You slowly peeled me out of time;
I swayingly stepped into it
and yielded after subtle fights:
but now your darkling presence grieves
your gentle victory.

You conquered me and know me not.”

     ~Rilke

One of the greatest aids belief gives the writer is an ability to understand the symbols and images he uses. Belief, a relationship with the symbols, is something allows us to see them as living, changing, growing things; images with deep roots; and that understanding is the place from which to pull the nuance of meaning, without either over-extending the symbol or misrepresenting it entirely. Jenna’s Monday post emphasized it perfectly, “I believe in mysteries—”. Mystery is a challenge to us, especially as we populate our stories with characters from folklore and legend. We’re a jaded lot, and while we may love the old tales, too often we look at them with eyes unused to mystery. We need to retrain our eyes. Mr. Pond joined us again with a surprise, one of his tales woke up and walked the earth - thrilling, but is it unexpected? “There are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of”.

Often, it seems, the writer will see as a symbol, a creature he loves or hates, like dragons for Michael O’Brien, and cling to one aspect of the symbolism, forgetting the rest in his enthusiasm. There is no relationship to the symbol, and the deeper meanings are lost. O’Brien is so full of the sens of the dragon as Satan image (dangerous, cunning, wicked) that he pushes out conflicting images of the dragon as counselor (powerful, wise, dangerous). It’s where the two intersect that the true symbolism is found. Dragons represent power, power outside of morality, and power of the mind as well as the physical power. Dragons are dangerous, but they don’t have to be a symbol of evil. Relationship to the image, how the author chooses to emphasize and down-play aspect of the symbol, is the key.

I am thinking especially of the symbolism of plants right now, Jenna mentioned them in last weeks discussion, and I am realizing more and more as I begin to reply, that symbols are shifting things, requiring an intimate friendship. I began by writing about birches - trees I love, trees I walk among daily for inspiration and friendship. In the spring, I bring in birch twigs to set on the altar, because my Saints love them. Birches bring so many good things: babies, healing, sweet dreams, and good spirits. But they’re also ghost trees, in birch groves, the souls of unshriven girls dance for the death of those who join them, late at night, under the waning moon. Birches link us to the dead, good and evil, they lean toward the good - all things have a leaning. But the tales speak mostly of the dancing girls, of terror and madness. Without a relationship we often miss an important aspect. Mr. Pond is right when he reminds us that “belief in fairies is certainly not [a] comforting thing.” As writers, we need to remember this, our fairies are not angels, and our angels are not merely fat cherubs.

"What will you do, God, when I'm dead?..
without me, you end up losing making sense...

I fret about you, God."
   ~Rilke

 Symbols are powerful, and now, living in a world that to often fails to appreciate them, we who write with them, need to write with love and understanding. Need to absorb their darkness and their light in order to make sense of them. In order to share them with the world.

Tea & Company

One of my favorite times in the day is the hour I devote to tea in the early afternoon. I’m never certain to take it, but most of the time there is a lovely hour while Yarrow is sleeping to sit at my table with a cup of something hot and a good book. My favorite book for this time is my own notebook, full of thoughts and dreams and memories. If I can find a good pen, I add to it in this time, and if not, I page backward, remembering. Another recent favorite was Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked this way Comes; but now, in the midst of a June monsoon, I’m burying myself in cozy, far off places. I’ve run through Sherlock Holmes, Hemingway, and Lewis’ Narnia. I’ve delved into the minor prophets, and walked Abraham’s long road to Moriah again with Kierkegaard. I’ve read my spring journals over and over again, not only in my tea time, but in the loud nights instead of fretting over my drowning garden.

On clear days, I like to take my tea outside. I have dreams of a garden table, a writer’s nook in the yard, with lavender, wild roses, mugwort, around for inspiration. For now though, I’m content on my rock, watching the chickens scratch around. The point is to find balance. To rest my soul in the quiet world around me, to mingle with good company and revive a bit with a nice Cinnamon-orange oolong.

Fifty days..Day 28

Are you a “denim” or a “khaki” person?

Denim. I loathe khakis. I never wear them, and I don’t like it when men wear them either. Actually, I don’t really like it when anyone wears khakis. If I could dress the whole world, no one would wear them, ever. I’d be a dictator, and no one would like me, but at least I’d get my way.

Fifty Days..Day 27

Do you dream often? Are they mainly good dreams, or nightmares?

I dream practically every night, a few times a night. Generally, I can remember my dreams for at least the first half of the morning, and if I try to write them down the memory will last longer. I don’t generally have nightmares, I haven’t since high-school. But sometimes a dream will leave a bad impression. It isn’t a nightmare, but it isn’t comfortable - like dreaming of a death, or dreaming of our ghosts. Those dreams seem to live a little longer in my mind, and I'm less likely to take long walks alone when I had them.

Practical Beauty

This is mine.

It works, and it’s too lovely for words..