Ask the Priestess

When we want to express love, how can we best go about it?  How do we best understand to ourselves, how do we explain it? In English, love is sort of either an accident, a prison or a war: you fall in love, you are attached to someone, or you conquer the one you want. In some mediterranean languages, love is actually quite circular, looping back as it reaches brfore going back to oneself: lehitahev (Hebrew), s'enamourer (French) or enarmorarse (Spanish). I don't know other languages, but I wonder... At the end of the day, it is feeling that best expresses the plethora of facets love has. It is the message in Extreme's 'More than words'. So why do we need still the words? Why do I sometimes crave hearing them? And why is it specially difficult to tell myself that I love myself when I look into the mirror? Probably, because unlike the love of your parents, who can hug you; or your lover, who can kiss your body; or your friends, who show their appreciation in ma...

It is a fascinating thing: the world is full of information, but we are blind and deaf to most of it until we become interested in an issue. From that point on, most people, books, events that come into our life will be blatantly connected to that matter. Take Noetics, which I did not know existed as a name, but which I have been interested in for a long time. It has been a long time indeed that I have followed the teachings of how the mind influences the world; or how the mind can cure the body; how the old saying "mind over matter" is actually true... but often considered impossible to prove. I didn't know Noetics, the scientific experimentation of this field, was active - has been active for years!! So, how did I come to find out? Well, that's the whole matter at heart: connections of meaning and meaningful connections in our reality. To cut it short, I came across it on a novel (Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol ). I got this novel from my mother's bookcase,...

Wisdom comes with time and changes. I was told a few weeks back, 'I want small surprises and big changes' (I paraphrase). Here you have them, looking all around you and popping up all the time! Or rather, here you have them, deciding on the party they will throw you in six-months time. It is Autumn: the Earth is getting ready to hibernate, to sequester itself in order to gestate the wonderful gifts it shall bring us in Spring. It is the time to gather the last harvests, to choose the crops to be planted, to plant and then protect them. Similarly, it is the time to find within ourselves what it is we really Want, to set in motion the plans to reap those things, and to understand the value of patience. We live in a society of instant gratification - we decide we want something, so we go and get it. Simple. Quick. Painless. Patienceless. It can be a wonderful way to live, but it has its drawbacks. It is wonderful in what menial desires are concerned, as we meet them to insta...

I am sad. When was the last time you said it? Even more to the point, when did you last say 'I am sad' to another person? At a guess, you don't remember it. You might have said 'I am upset', 'I am pissed off!', 'I feel depressed' or even 'I don't feel all that energetic' (quite a mouthful). But 'I am sad'? That honest, simple statement has probably eluded you for quite some time. There seems to be something quite childish and puny about it. As though being sad where the realm of an unrefined understanding of feelings. Sure, kids can feel sad but we don't expect to hear about it. We do try our best to prevent that state. So youngsters are encouraged to claim and proclaim they are happy, and learn to have temper tantrums and scowl when they are "not happy". We are not sad! 18th century gents and ladies were "melancholy", others were "distempered", music is "blue"... How can we be sad...

In the last few days, I feel I speak too much. I am always a chatterbox, that's true, but these days, I can feel myself tire from it. How often do the others feel tired from listening? It is difficult, at times, to understand what is behind our actions and feelings. And, of course, it has taken me to actually sit down to write about it to realise the root of the situation. What prompts us (I am the example) to talk and not listen? The desire for control. If we talk, we control what is being said, what the others are thinking about. We can lead the "conversation" in the direction we want it to go, where we set up the limits, the goals, the humorous snippets. We talk to avoid listening, not to elicit a reply. Or, we make sure the environment drowns our voices: loud music in the pub; fast-pace offices; music devices to isolate us from the other commuters on the bus... Still, I think it is less a matter of lack of respect for others, and more an issue of uncertainty, of...

Sometimes, hearing something negative is a blessing. I have had confirmation this morning: hearing about a negative result can make me want to dance and sing. There is no right or wrong in life. Just perception. I decide to perceive the good in the negative. I decide to expect to receive more wonderful negatives. I have lost my fear of negation. I can see the plants outside, swaying in the wind. The summer is finished, and the holidays are over. It is time to stay home more, have less hours of sun and think of hibernating. It is time to plant what I mean to reap in spring, enjoy a good read and dream. I refuse to be cowed by circumstances. I cannot control the outside, but I can control the inside. I am learning by inspirational example - amazing, grand, generous, and brave. Joy is the heart of Life! I had forgotten although I kept mentioning it. The negative has brought me Joy. And I am grateful. I shall live. For me, and for no-one else. Not because I want to be selfish, but ...

It was a sunny day, and we were surrounded by families, laughter and learning. We were at The Tower of London. Now, if you have never been there you may not know that it is actually a series of fortifications which started as a King's castle but became most famous as a prison and place of horrors. And as I was sitting there, resting for a bit, soaking up a few late-summer rays while my companions visited the military museum, I realised:  it was 11th September. Hum.  Here we were, in a historical location of pain, on a day made famous by pain (and its bellicose consequences) - yet the fact that the place held no more pain but life, that the day was a sunny Saturday of cheer and well being, was more powerful. I reJoiced!! It filled me up with hope and gratitude for the gift: it is not the pain, not the death and the horror; it is the cheer, the life and the curiosity. Not only were we in the Tower on such a date, but it was also the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain - ...