The "real" visit from St. Nicholas

One of the characters we encounter this time of year is Santa Claus. This name is derived through the Dutch "sinterklaas" or St. Nicholas, and that much is known by many.

The real St. Nicholas was a Turkish Bishop of the 4th century, whose feast is December 6.  He was known as a generous and giving man, and the most famous legend surrounding this attribute of his character is this one (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nicholas ):

"However, in his most famous exploit, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man's plight, Nicholas decided to help him but being too modest to help the man in public (or to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man's house.

One version has him throwing one purse for three consecutive nights. Another has him throw the purses over a period of three years, each time the night before one of the daughters comes "of age". Invariably, the third time the father lies in wait, trying to discover the identity of their benefactor. In one version the father confronts the saint, only to have Saint Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone. In another version, Nicholas learns of the poor man's plan and drops the third bag down the chimney instead; a variant holds that the daughter had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking."

This is the spirit of giving that we remember as we celebrate God's greatest gift during the Christmas season.  We hope you enjoyed hearing the legend from a somewhat more "orthodox" persective.

Ref: 

by Magis Center of Reason and Faith on Friday, 24 December 2010 at 15:48

http://www.facebook.com/notes/magis-center-of-reason-and-faith/the-real-visit-from-st-nicholas/170427996328663

Magical Powers...

If you could chose a magical power, which would it revolve around:


Pyrokinesis (fire),
hydrokinesis (water),
electrokinesis (electricity),
geokinesis (earth),
aerokinesis (wind),
biokinesis (altering your own form into something else),
photokinesis (light),
umbrakinesis (darkness)


Other suggestions:
 telekineses. It's universal, can almost do anything, and this way you could get to work without hitching a ride.  Telekinesis for the shear fact that it's tons more useful and versatile than most other forms of 'Kinetic' abilities allowing you to create Forcefields, Fly, Levitate objects and people, etc... 

Telekinesis on a molecular level is a completely unnecessary upgrade to a power that is already incredibly useful and strong and one that would take much more motor-control and knowledge to utilize for a person with simply telekinesis.


Chronokinesis. The control of time.  makes you immortal, allow you to restore your eyesight(by going into the future) and stuff like that.
Omnikinesis-greater-than-farfromrealmer-has-kinesis.
The ability to have Omnikinesis better than the one ffr has.




Possible uses:  Defense against the dark arts   (personal preference vs.power)


aerokinesis is the most potentially powerful one with air being almost everywhere. You could create a vacuum in their lungs and suffocate them.

Electrokinesis is also a very powerful one as your nervous system runs on electric charges. You could instantly incapacitate an enemy if you were powerful enough.


Umbrakinesis, being able to control the darkness ,especially at night, and even in the daytime you have shadows. sleep in the noon hours and live in a big city with plenty of shadows to manipulate.  Lumo and Umrakinesis are virtually the same. The term 'Umbra' is actually a misconception because you are not moving darkness, you are moving light. Basically, both Lumo and Umbrakinesis is the power to control light, but in different ways. 

Lumokinesis is the ability to enhance the brightness in an area by moving light particles in a more condensed way to blind others or to simply light up a darkened area to see better. Theoretically, with Lumokinesis, you would also be able to create intense illusions and even draw all the light from the surrounding area and create mild to powerful laser blasts.

Umbrakinesis is the ability to darken an area by moving light away from said area. To put it simply, the power of Umbrakinesis allows you to remove light from a person, place, or thing to create absolute darkness to blind or confuse people. Technically speaking, you could remove all the light from a person, for example, making them look like a moving or living shadow but in fact, they are actually completely sightless because there is no light around them. With Umbrakinesis, creating a shroud or even an illusory being of shadow, is actually just a space of absolute darkness taking a form, due to strategically removing light in certain ways. Turning out the lights


Biokinesis. Regeneration/healing, shapeshifting, enhanced physical stats.  Can make yourself immortal, immune to all diseases and independent of air/water/food, ups your strength, reflexes, and physical condition, You have camouflage, you can give yourself certain superpowers, regenerate from all kinds of damage should something get past your new endurance, you can evolve your mind to the level where you get all the other -kinesises, possibly to the level of outright godhood. Basically if you're smart about it, Biokinesis can very well turn into Omnikinesis.  could gain animal abilities, or become something else completely. 
Maybe you could become time.  You could stop aging that way.  read up on Biokinesis and from what I got it seems to be more than that. You can basically slow down your aging and you would be close to being immortal.

Also you would be able to enhance your strength, intelligence, and even your eyesight. It can be a useful ability if your blind, you could gain your eyesight back.

Although if real world physics is applied here you wont be getting Superman type of strength but you would still be stronger than normal. - consider the extra longevity... This makes the decision even tougher. 


Aerokinesis, to keep yourself from falling prey to your own vainity. Flying really seems like it would be the most useful of the kinesis.

Pithanotitakinesis. Pithanotita is Greek for probability so pithanotitakinesis would basically be probability control.


Ability to make almost anything happen by altering the odds, changing the virtually impossible to absolute certainty and vice versa. Things like whether you will win the lottery, live youthfully forever, and defeat any foe that faces you.

Quantum kinesis. Control over quantum mechanics.  The particles that make up matter and the fundamental forces in the form of bosons. Cause people to teleport into space, relegate them through time, just follow the Uncertainty Principle and throw them into weird, unexpected scenarios.

Ref:  http://forums.comicbookresources.com/archive/index.php/t-214366.html

Word Origins: Old English Word Usage

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/880/
Written by Dave Wilton, Sunday, December 01, 2002


Extracts:


Take a look at Tolkien’s use of language to set the tone and environment of Middle-earth, particularly his use of Old English.




One of the things that inspired Tolkien was what he perceived to be a lack of English-language mythology. The tales and stories of the ancient Britons were never written down and were wiped out by the Anglo-Saxons. Similarly, most of the tales of the Anglo-Saxons were lost with the Norman Conquest. Even Beowulf, although written in Old English, is about a Geatish hero, from what is now Sweden, who travels to what is now Denmark to fight the monster Grendel. In writing The Lord of the Rings, and the accompanying books, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, Tolkien was attempting, in part, to create a mythology for England, and it made sense to use Old English associations as the means to link his tales with Britain.
Tolkien does this in several ways. He resurrects dead or little-used Old English words and uses them in his books, usually as names but also as terms for items of cultural significance, like smial and mathom. He also uses words that are not lost, but perhaps a bit archaic or evocative of older days in England, words like barrow or farthing. And in one case he even uses Old English in its entirety to represent the speech of one of the peoples of Middle-earth, the Rohirrim.


Geography of Middle-earth
Throughout his books, Tolkien uses Old English words, or words coined from Old English roots, as names for places, people, and things in Middle-earth. Even the name of his world itself, Middle-earth, is taken from the Old English midden-erd. As Tolkien wrote in a 1956 letter “Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. The name is the modern form (appearing in the 13th century and still in use) of midden-erd < middel-erd, an ancient name for the oikoumenē, the abiding place of Men, the objectively real world, in use specifically opposed to imaginary worlds (as Fairyland) or unseen worlds (as Heaven or Hell)." Tolkien is not the first modern writer to use the word. It has been in continual, if rare, use since Old English; Shakespeare, for example, uses middle earth in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Hawthorne uses it in The Marble Faun.
Tolkien takes his name for the hobbits’ homeland, The Shire, from scír, an Anglo-Saxon term for an administrative district. The word is still in general use, found chiefly as a general term for district or in place names, such as Yorkshire. The hobbits’ Shire is divided into four districts, which Tolkien calls Farthings. That word is from the Old English féorðing or féorða, meaning a fourth. In the real world, the word is best known for its use to denote a quarter of a monetary denomination or other measure, especially a quarter of a penny. One particular low, wet region in Eastfarthing is called the Marish, a word from the Anglo-Norman mareis, meaning swamp. Again, this is not a unique Tolkien usage; the word has been in occasional usage since the 14th century. Spenser uses it in the Faerie Queene, as does Tennyson in Dying Swan.
Old English terms are not just used by Tolkien to evoke pleasant images of days gone by in England. He also uses the Anglo-Saxon for the names of darker places. In The Lord of the Rings, the hero, a hobbit named Frodo, must journey to Mordor, land of Sauron, the Dark Lord, to destroy a magical ring. The name Mordor bears a striking resemblance to the Old English morðor, or murder, a similarity that could not have been lost on Tolkien. Also, another evil-doer, the wizard Saruman dwells in the fortress of Isengard, Old English for iron court, from the isen (iron) + gard (enclosure). At the center of Isengard is the tower of Orthanc, an Old English word meaning contrivance, skill, intelligence, or as Tolkien glosses it, cunning mind.
Placenames from the languages of some of Tolkien’s fantastic creatures also sometimes come from Old English. The underground Dwarfish city of Dwarrowdelf is from dweorh (dwarf) + gedelf (mine, pit). Derndingle, the meeting place of the giant Ents, means secret valley and is, in part, from Old English, dyrne (secret) + dingle (valley, of unknown origin)
Characters and Creatures of Middle-earth
Tolkien occasionally dips into Old English for the names of characters. He does this most often with the names of the people of Rohan (see The Language of Rohan, below), but with others as well. The protagonist of The Lord of the Rings, a hobbit named Frodo, takes his name from the Old English fród, meaning wise. Nor did Tolkien invent the name of the wizard Gandalf. That name appears throughout Norse mythology. The meaning, magical, gaunt, or wand elf, depends on which Germanic language you take it from. The evil wizard Saruman’s name is also from Old English, searu (cunning) + man, as is the name of another wizard, Radagast, from rad (skillful) + gast (spirit). The Hobbit has a character, a man who can change into a bear at will. His name is Beorn, an Old English word for warrior or hero. And the monstrous spider, Shelob, takes her name from she + the Old English lobbe (spider).
Other dark creatures go by Old English names. Most famous perhaps is orc. Tolkien adopted the word, which has been in occasional use in its current form since the late 16th century, as the name for the race of evil minions of the Dark Lord. The ultimate origin is somewhat vague, with several candidates presenting themselves. It may be related to Orca, the name of a genus of whales. The sense of a sea monster may have led to a more general usage. The term orcneas appears in Beowulf as a plural form of a type of monster. It may also be related to or influenced by the Latin Orcus, another name for Pluto, the god of the underworld (and the source of ogre).
Sometimes accompanying the orcs on their raids are wargs, or wolves, especially wild and vicious ones. Tolkien coined the word, basing it on the Old Norse vargr (wolf) and the Old English wearg (criminal, evil person).
Tolkien also borrows trolls from Scandinavian myth. Originally large and quite fearsome, over the centuries trolls shrunk and acquired a subterranean existence. The word was adopted into English in the 19th century. Tolkien restores the monster’s size and fearsomeness. Although a new adoption to the general English vocabulary, the word has a longer history in the dialect of the Shetland and Orkney Islands, where the term has survived (modern form: trow) as a relic of the Norse language formerly spoken there.
And in the first book of The Lord of the Rings, the hobbits encounter a barrow-wight, a supernatural being that guards the treasure in a barrow or grave. The term was actually coined in the 19th century by Andrew Lang, a writer about myths and legends. It is a compounding of barrow and wight, an Old English term for a living creature, especially a human. This sense long ago fell out of use. Wight also has had a sense of a supernatural being since c. 950. This second sense also fell out of general use, although writers, like Lang and Tolkien, have made occasional use of it over the centuries to evoke an archaic atmosphere.
A barrow is a mound of earth and stones erected over a grave. Originally from an Old English word for mountain, that sense has long passed out of the language, except in the names of particular hills. The term survived as a local term for a grave mound in the Southwest of England. It since has enjoyed a revival as an archeological term. Tolkien uses it the sense of a grave mound, especially those found just outside the borders of the Shire.
Tolkien, however, doesn’t restrict Old English to the names of evil races of creatures. Ents, kindly giant tree-creatures likely get their name from Eoten, an Old English word for giant. And the Woses, or wild men of the forest, are from the Old English wudewása, wudu (wood) + *wása (unknown)
Things of Middle-earth
Tolkien also resurrects some Old English words to give names to things found in Middle-earth. One such example is mathom. It is an Old English word, meaning a treasure or something valuable, that fell out of use in 13th century. Tolkien revived it with a new sense, that of a hobbit’s trinket or useless heirloom. Tolkien also revived mathom-house, which had meant a treasury in Old English, but in Tolkien’s world becomes a museum stuffed with old curiosities.
Another such hobbit word is smial. Tolkien uses it as a term for a hobbit’s hole, especially a large and grand one. It is based on the Old English smygel, or burrow. And living in the Great Smials is the Thain of the Shire. Thane is an Old English word for a warrior who is charged with ruling lands of the king. Tolkien uses it to denote the leader of the hobbits in the Shire.
Kingsfoil is the name of a plant with healing powers, coined by Tolkien. The original sense of foil, which is from the Old French, is the leaf of a plant. This sense has long been obsolete in English, giving way to the modern sense of metal hammered very thin, like a leaf. But Tolkien used the original sense when he names this plant, literally king’s leaf. He also uses the Old English athel, or noble, to form the Elvish name for the plant, athelas.
The Language of Rohan
Tolkien did more than simply resurrect Old English words as names of places and things in Middle-earth. He actually used the language to represent the language of one of the peoples of Middle-earth, the Rohirrim (the word Rohirrim is a Tolkien coinage, formed from roots in the fictional Elvish languages he created). Of course, most of the dialogue spoken by the people of Rohan is in modern English, but throughout the books Tolkien gives us snippets of Rohirric/Old English.
Rohan, in Tolkien’s tales, is a land of men, peopled by a fair-haired, Nordic-like race known for their excellence as horsemen. When it comes to representing their speech, Tolkien simply uses Old English. Throughout the explanatory material and the appendices to Lord of the Rings, Tolkien uses the conceit that he translated the material from ancient languages and that these are actual myths and legends, not stories of his own creation. In using Old English to represent Rohirric, Tolkien was choosing a language that had analogous relationship to modern English as Rohirric had to Hobbitish. He writes, “the language of Rohan I have accordingly made to resemble ancient English. The language of Rohan was related (more distantly) to the Common Speech, and (very closely) to the former tongue of the northern Hobbits, and was in comparison with the [Common Speech] archaic. In the Red Book it is noted in several places that when Hobbits heard the speech of Rohan they recognized many words and felt the language to be akin to their own, so that it seemed absurd to leave the recorded names and words of the Rohirrim in a wholly alien style.”
Tolkien goes on to note, “this linguistic procedure does not imply that the Rohirrim closely resembled the ancient English otherwise, in culture or art, in weapons or modes of warfare, except in a general way due to their circumstances: a simpler and more primitive people living in contact with a higher and more venerable culture, and occupying lands that had once been part of its domain.”
The Rohirrim refer to themselves as the Eorlingas, or in Old English “the people of Eorl,” Eorl being the first king of Rohan. Their name for hobbits is holbytla, or hole-builder, from the Old English hol (hole) + *byldan (to build).
The names of the people of Rohan, for one thing, are all derived from Old English words. The king of Rohan is Théoden, which means king in Old English. His nephew and heir is Éomer, a name that also appears in Beowulf and means renowned rider, and Théoden’s niece is Éowyn, or joyful rider. His counselor, who is secretly in league with the evil wizard Saruman is named Gríma, or mask. Gríma gives the wizard Gandalf the nickname, Láthspell, or lað (hateful) + spell (message), because Gandalf always seems to appear when things are at their darkest. And the Rohirrim give the hobbit Merry, who befriends Théoden, the name of Holdwine, from hold (loyal) + wine (friend).
The Rohirrim are renowned horsemen and they treat their horses almost as well as they do their children. The horses’ names in the books are also from Old English. The most famous, Shadowfax, is somewhat updated for the modern reader. It is from sceadu (dusky, shadowy) + feax (hair). Another horse is named Arod, the Old English word for swift or quick and another is Hasufel, or hasu (gray) + fell (skin). And the name for the royal horses of Rohan is Mearas, from the Old English mearh, or horse (and the etyma of the modern word mare). As warriors, the Rohirrim fight on horseback, organized in troops called éoreds, which is an Old English word for a mounted company or legion.
Place names in Rohan are also from Old English. The capital is Edoras, or the courts, and the king’s hall is Meduseld, or mead-hall. Districts in Rohan are Eastemnet and Westemnet, from the Old English emnet meaning plain or level ground. These two districts are also known as the wold, or open country, plain. It is from the Old English weald or forest (Cf. modern German Wald). The sense of forest dropped out of the English in the 15th century. The sense of open plain, stemming from the deforested plains of England, arose in the 13th century. This latter sense fell out of common use by 1600, although it remains in poetic use and in the names of places, e.g., the Cotswolds.
Others districts are Eastfold and Westfold, from folde or district, country. The entire kingdom is known as The Mark, which stems from three related, but distinct Old English roots, all carrying the sense of border, boundary, or land. The boundary sense has remained current in English, although the sense of land or country has become archaic. This latter sense is preserved, however, in its modern German cognate.
Tolkien gives us very few actual sentences in Rohirric/Old English. One that he does is a greeting Éomer gives to the king, Westu Théoden hál, This, substituting the appropriate name, is a traditional Old English greeting meaning Hail, Théoden, or literally “you be healthy, Théoden.” Although Tolkien modifies the spelling a bit, in Old English the first words would actually be “Waes thu.” Similarly, Éowyn bids good-bye to Théoden with Ferthu Théoden hál, or “farewell, Théoden,” literally “go with health, Théoden”
Other Old English words appear individually in the speech of characters, giving the reader a sense of their language and mythos. Éowyn calls the Lord of the Nazgul, a wraith-like servant of Sauron, the Dark Lord, a dwimmerlaik. The word, demerlayk, meaning magic or occult, appears in Middle English and is from the Old English roots dweomer (illusion, phantasm) + -lác (suffix of action or condition). Dweomer appears again in the Rohirric name for the Elvish forest of Lothlórien, Dwimordene, dweomer + denu (valley)
The Rohirrim call the fortress of Minas Tirith Mundburg, from the Old English mund (protection) + burð (fortified town). The flower that grows on their gravesites is Simbelmynë, from symble (always) + mynd (remembrance). And a series of ancient statues depicting a race of squat, primitive men are called the Púkel-men, from the Old English púcel (goblin) + men.
So, here we have an example of a writer who is philologically savvy and who uses this knowledge to good effect. Tolkien went further than simply reusing Old English words. He even invented several languages (or at least some basic grammar and a few hundred vocabulary words) for his creations to speak. But the Old English usages are especially effective. They seem vaguely familiar and evoke images of ages past, when at least the possibility of magical creatures seemed real.

Trees

Biblically speaking trees have huge importance - who can forget the Garden of Eden and its 2 vital trees:

1.The Tree of Life
2.The Tree of Knowledge

Nordic Mythology - Odin's World Tree is equally well known

Celtic Trees - These are thought to have special powers or to serve as the abode of the fairies, especially the magical trio of oak, ash, and thorn. Next in rank are the fruit-bearing trees apple and hazel, followed by the alder, elder, holly, and willow.  Ogam is the tree alphabet. There are roughly 400 surviving ogham inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain.

Dryads-The dryads are wood nymphs or forest nymphs.  They are beautiful and carefree maiden spirits who live in forests and wooded areas and  protect the trees and creatures in their domain.  Dryads are very peaceful and usually known to be very shy.


The dryads are very closely associated with trees and each dryad has a particular tree with which she herself is closely linked.  (Greek Mythology)

Trees have great appeal and some of them have a very long lifespan.

There are many tree appreciators and organisations that speak out against deforestation.

Arbour Day is celebrated by planting tree's in many places.

Trees are awesome - They have such a special energy.  They are a real natural living treasure that most people do not appreciate.

Is it possible that only certain people have an affinity with trees?

Different trees definately have different personalities and trees are very wise.  You can definately communicate with trees but its more of a necessity of clearing your mind and emptying it of thoughts.  Trees find people very noisy thinkers.  If you clear your mind and make contact with a tree (Like touching or hugging it) you will definately be rewarded by it communicating with you.  Several people have written books on this topic and many others have experienced contact with trees.


Other interesting tree webpages:
Famous Trees in the UK -http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/trees/17717-famous-trees.html
http://witchofforestgrove.com/2010/11/30/the-religion-of-trees/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_tree_worship
http://www.dryads.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogam

Tasseomancy - Reading Tea Leaves

As young ones we were taught our family's tradition of reading tea leaves.

When I first started working after leaving school, I met a lovely greek girl, Bella who told us of her traditions of reading coffee grindings which involved placing the right thumb at the inside bottom of the cup after it had been drunk and twisting clockwise slightly. This left an impression behind that she could interpret as the drinker's inner thoughts or emotions.

The full process went something like this....


A white cup with white saucer is used. The coffee grinding must be read by someone other than the drinker.  The drinker of the coffee cannot read their own cup.  Most of the coffee is drunk, but the sediment at the bottom is left behind.
Then the cup be covered with the saucer and turned upside-down. The sediments in the cup must be swirled around the inside of the cup until they cover the majority of the cup's inside surface. The cup must be turned towards yourself for showing your own fortune.

The coffee grinds are given time to settle and dry against the cup before a reading begins.


She also showed us how to make a traditional greek tea with cloves and cinnamon.


The term "Tasseomancy" derives from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup).Tasseography, otherwise known as tasseomancy or tassology, is the art of tea leaf reading. "Tasse" or "tass" is also an Arab root, meaning small cup or goblet.

Tea, is linked with herbology - part of alternative healing. People who seek answers through various forms of divination, such as tea leaf readings, are often healing their issues.

Tasseography is not an application of magic, but rather a tool for tapping into the subconscious by applying meditation to pattern recognition and symbolism.

Tasseography can be a powerful meditative tool providing insights into the reader's subconscious.

Tea leaf reading is an ancient practice interpreting patterns made by tea leaves in the cup. In addition to the reading of tea leaves, the tradition of tasseography includes the reading of coffee grounds and wine sediments. Although tasseography is commonly associated with Gypsy fortunetellers, the tradition of tea leaf reading arises independently from Asia, the Middle East and Ancient Greece.

Modern tasseography has also been associated with the Scottish, Irish and cultures throughout Eastern Europe.

You can get an online tealeaves reading at http://www.knopfler.com/tealeaves/reading.html

My reading was:

Reading No. 45

"When times of adversity seem at their worst and defeat seems most assured - hidden from view beneath you, is often the greatest, roller coaster ride.

You have already accomplished the heroic climb and the wonderful value of the hard lessons you have learned will become very clear - and sooner than you imagine."

Other References:  http://www.taotat.ca/readings.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/tealeaves.html
http://www.serenapowers.com/tealeaves.html
http://tarotcanada.tripod.com/TeaLeaves.html
http://www.tealeafmeanings.com/
http://www.holistics.org.uk/tea_leaf_reading.php
http://crystalmaster.co.uk/TarotandOracleCards.aspx
http://previouslyinaudible.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/tea.jpg?w=500&h=333
http://www.witchywearablesonline.com/
http://www.thisnext.com/tag/teacups/
http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/2008/10/tea-cup-showing-tea-leaf-reading.html
http://www.psychics.co.uk/divination/tealeaf-reading-tasseography.html
http://www.fedbybirds.com/2006/11/tea_leaves_divination.html
http://www.teacourse.com/members/teacourse/adminpages/tcTeaLeafReading
http://www.tasseography.com/stepfive.htm
http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/2008/10/tea-leaf-reading-symbol-cup.html
http://www.redhorseshoe.com/traytea.htm
http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/2008/10/bone-china-of-knowledge-tea-cup.html
http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/2008/10/bone-china-of-knowledge-tea-cup.html
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/the-tea-leaf-reading-8
http://www.magickal-musings.com/tea_leaf.htm- tea leaf readings

Journey

This is an interesting note I saw on Facebook by Toyin (Toyin Adepoju's notes)

THE JOURNEY

by Toyin Adepoju on Wednesday, 17 November 2010 at 10:51

An old man is walking along a road.

The old man is you, seen in relation to  the contradictions that make up your life.


This walk is a journey to make sense of those contradictions.

The contradictions take shape  at the crossroads you reach.

It becomes clearer that the road on which you walk is the path between the four calabashes of creation that emerged when the eternal rock of creation,oyigiyigi,split to form the universe.

The road,with four arms stretching out to east,west, north,south,is yourself.

At last you are in the place you have been striving to reach for so long,seated at the table with yourself who explains to you the meaning of all those journeys you have undergone since you first drew breath on that fateful day.

The journey under the earth

The meeting with the chameleon
the one who changes his colour to suit his surroundings
the one who identifies with others yet remains himself
the duality that is yet one

The one who sees left and right at once
the unity of knowledge
of good and evil
of past,present, future
of life and beyond life

Trickster and guide
Sage and mischievous child

the fire that consumed the house

the man with the body of a snake

the old man gazing at the stars

the ferryman who sank the canoe

Kaidara and the gift of gold,your friends who followed you on this journey,your family awaiting you at journey's end-at last all these take their true place in the pattern of your life.

Image credits

Image 1.  Esu image from Yoruba:Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought.Henry John Drewal, John Pemberton III,Rowland Abiodun and Allen Wardell.New York:Harry Abrams.1989.28.
 Image  2. Image of Papa Legba
Image 3. Legba veve at crossroads by the Witch of Forest Grove  at http://witchofforestgrove.com/2009/06/
Image 4.Esu and Igba Iwa collage using images from Yoruba:Nine  Centuries of African Art and Thought
Image 5.Papa Legba veve by the Witch of Forest Grove at http://witchofforestgrove.com/2009/06/
Image 6.Kaidara as an old man and Hammadi in  The Secrets of Kaidara by Hyacinthe Vulliez.Illustrated by Etienne Soupart. Translated by Gwen Marsh.London:Moonlight Publishing.1994.29.
Image 7.Ibid.6.
Image 8.Ibid.12.
Image 9.Ibid.10.
Image 10.Ibid.20.
Image 11.Ibid.25.
Image 12.From the Ebohon Cultural Centre

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    Aina Olomo This is a work of art....thanks Toyin Lots to think about and information to internalize

    24 September at 02:46
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    Toyin Adepoju thanks aina.deeply appreciated.you continue to light the fire in me.

    24 September at 08:59

Much ancient knowledge was lost in ages past

A Book of Light (vs a Book of Shadows)

Lightworkers and healers

The will and the word - David Eddings

Whyte vs Dark/Black

Spellbinding/Spellbound

Apprentice