“Witch”

 

Beautiful and sad…

 

Beautiful and sad as those that can hear but refuse to listen. Beautiful and sad as the life of a flower in the wilderness that can cure the aching soul but no one cares that it is there.

“Witch”

“She sees faeries

And talks to her herb garden.
And everyone laughs.

She feels colors,
And says there is magic in the moon.
And everyone laughs.

She never hurts anyone
And loves her oak tree like a child.
And everyone laughs.

She always helps a stranger
And the neighborhood strays adore her
And everyone laughs.

She sits and cries
And mumbles to the shadows,
And no one cares.

Once her hair was long and bright,
Now it is a matted mess
And no one cares.

She used to dance among the trees,
Now she can’t find them
And no one cares.

Dreams of magic fill her days;
Magic she can almost touch.
And no one cares.

The day she died her herbs did, too.
And her oak tree bowed its limbs.
A single candle burned in her window
With naught there but the cats.
And no one understands…”

by- Morgan Stardancer

http://blessedbe.sugarbane.com/poetry.htm

 

Moro

This fantastic artwork is titled ‘ Sleeping Beauty’ by artist:  kimsol @ http://kimsol.deviantart.com/art/Sleeping-Beauty-385074952

 

ARANYANI: Indian/Hindu Goddess of the Forest…

 

ARANYANI: Indian/Hindu Goddess of the Forest…

“…Forests have always been central to Indian civilization. It represented the feminine principle in prakrti. In the Hindu pantheon, forests have been worshiped as Goddess Aranyani, the Goddess of the Forests and Animals that dwell within them. Forests are the primary source of life and fertility. The forest as a community has been viewed as a model for societal and civilizational evolution.

The Indian civilization was guided by the diversity, harmony and self-sustaining nature of the forest. Aranya means forest. The Aranyakas form the third part of the Vedas. They were developed by the hermits, living in the forests. They reflect an explicit transition in the philosophy of life of man. So ‘Aranya Samskriti’ the culture of the forest was not a condition of primitiveness but one of conscious choice. Indian culture considers the forest as the highest form of cultural evolution.

As a source of life nature was venerated as sacred and human evolution was measured in terms of man’s capacity to merge with her rhythms and patterns intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. The forest thus nurtured an ecological civilization in the most fundamental sense of harmony with nature. Such knowledge that came from participation in the life of the forest was the substance not just of Aranyakas or forest texts, but also the everyday beliefs of tribal and peasant society.

The forest as the highest expression of the earth’s fertility and productivity is symbolised in yet another form as the Earth Mother, as Vana Durga or Tree Goddess. In Bengal she is associated with Avasthhaor or Banbibi, the lady of the forest. In Comilla, Bangla Desh, she is Bamani, in Assam she is Rupeswari. In folk and tribal cultures especially, trees and forests are also worshiped as Vana Devatas or forest deities. In the Southern Indian states, the concept of Vana Devatas means forest spirits.” (1)

“Aranyani has the distinction of having one of the most descriptive hymns in the Rigveda dedicated to her, in which she is described as being elusive, fond of quiet glades in the jungle, and fearless of remote places. In the hymn, the supplicant entreats her to explain how she wanders so far from the fringe of civilization without becoming afraid or lonely. She wears anklets with bells, and though seldom seen, she can be heard by the tinkling of her anklets.[1] She is also described as a dancer. Her ability to feed both man and animals though she ’tills no lands’ is what the supplicant finds most marvelous. The hymn is repeated in Taittiriya Brahmana and interpreted by the commentator of that work.[2]

Aranyani bears resemblance to later day forest deities like Bonobibi in Bengal and Vana Durga. Her worship has declined in modern day Hinduism, and it is rare to find a temple dedicated to Aranyani.” (2)

 

“The hymn of Aranyani:

Rig Veda, Book 10, Hymn 146:

HYMN CXLVI. Aranyani.

1. GODDESS of wild and forest who seemest to vanish from the sight.
How is it that thou seekest not the village? Art thou not afraid?
2 What time the grasshopper replies and swells the shrill cicala’s voice,
Seeming to sound with tinkling bells, the Lady of the Wood exults.
3 And, yonder, cattle seem to graze, what seems a dwelling-place appears:
Or else at eve the Lady of the Forest seems to free the wains.
4 Here one is calling to his cow, another there hath felled a tree:
At eve the dweller in the wood fancies that somebody hath screamed.
5 The Goddess never slays, unless some murderous enemy approach.
Man eats of savoury fruit and then takes, even as he wills, his rest.
6 Now have I praised the Forest Queen, sweet-scented, redolent of balm,
The Mother of all sylvan things, who tills not but hath stores of food.(3)

(translated in late nineteenth century by Ralph Griffiths)

 

(1) http://vedicgoddess.weebly.com/3/post/2012/09/another-great-post-by-yogi-ananda-saraswathi-devi-aranyani.html; Author: Yogi Ananda Saraswathi on 09/10/2012

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aranyani

(3)  http://www.allbeliefs.com/archive/index.php/t-5913.html (forum, poster: bhuvana-mohan dasa  07-29-2008, 04:18 PM)

 

Moro

(I did not write this article in any way. I simply enjoy sharing pearls of wisdom and beauty from different sources into one source for many to enjoy. If inspired to from there, go to the original sources to discover more!)

 

Art source: http://hindugodsandgoddesses.weebly.com/aranyani.html No title or artist/link is listed

 

“If you talk to the animals…”

“If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.”

– Chief Dan George

Who was Chief Dan George?

“Chief Dan George, OC (July 24, 1899 – September 23, 1981) was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band located on Burrard Inlet in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was also an author, poet, and an Academy Award-nominated actor. His best-known written work was “My Heart Soars.””

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Dan_George

Moro

Title of the art: “The Seekers”; Art by Delun at http://delun.deviantart.com/art/The-Seekers-356735862

 

‘The Shaman as Poet of Consciousness’

 

‘The Shaman as Poet of Consciousness’

‘…Our earliest poets were shamans. Today as in the earliest times, true shamans are poets of consciousness who know the power of song and story to teach and to heal. They understand that through the play of words, sung or spoken, the magic of the Real World comes dancing into the surface world. The right words open pathways between the worlds. The poetry of consciousness delights the spirits. It draws the gods and goddesses who wish to live through us closer.

Shamans use poetry, sung or spoken, to achieve ends that go deeper than our consensual world. They create poetic songs of power to invoke spiritual help; to journey into nonordinary reality; to open and maintain a space between the worlds where interaction between humans and multidimensional beings can take place and to bring energy and healing through to the body and the physical world….’

by: Robert Moss

from @ http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/dreamgates/2013/06/the-shaman-as-poet-of-consciousness.html

As a side and personal note, regarding the title of the art, I don’t see the same thing the artist does when he created his art…as a master of beasts, I instead see the spirit and energy of one who walks with them, side by side and connected…

 

Moro

Art title: ‘Beast Master’ by TheBastardSon @http://www.deviantart.com/art/Beast-Master-321785208