Beltaine.. Valborg .... Valpurgis .. Full Moon ... Wesak .....May Day ... Rites of Spring .. blessed be.

See you later
X

Today is , sort of , an unofficial holiday here in Sweden. Many take the day off as 1st of May is a public holiday. Valborg , ( Walpurgis night ) like Halloween, has its roots in ancient pagan customs and superstitions.

At this time of year, the Vikings participated in a ritual that they hoped would hasten the arrival of Spring weather and ensure fertility for their crops and livestock. They would light huge bonfires in hopes of scaring away evil spirits.

Bonfires are still lit here and there's quite a bit of eating drinking and making merry that goes along with all that. It's also a good opportunity to get rid of rubbish that has acculmilated over the winte.

Some of the celebrating unfortunately gets out of hand , there are fights and brawls and hospitals have a hard time coping.

As with most other pagan festival's the Christian version is to celebrate

" Saint Walpurga (variants include Walpurgis, Valborg, Walburge, Wealdburg, Valderburger, Vappu), born in Wessex, ca. 710, died at Heidenheim, 25 February 779 was an English missionary in Germany. She was canonized on 1 May of ca. 870 by Pope Adrian II.

Together with her brothers, Saint Willibald and Saint Winibald, she travelled to Württemberg to assist Saint Boniface. She became a nun and lived in the convent of Heidenheim near Eichstätt, which was founded by Winibald. Walpurga died on 25 February 779 and that day still carries her name in the Catholic calendar, but for example in the Finnish, German and Swedish calendar, her feast day is 1 May, the date of Walpurgis Night. "

Apperently , Walpurga is the patroness of Eichstätt, Antwerp and other towns. I was in Antwerp only a couple of months ago and remember feeling power spots everywhere. I often wonder if the reason for us visiting certain towns and places in this life time is somehow linked to past lives.

In university towns like Uppsala and Lund, the traditions surrounding Walpurgis Night are strong and include choral singing, speeches and wearing white-topped graduation caps.

Watching " Six feet under " on Sunday evenings always puts me in a strange mood. Still, I do find the series most compelling despite all the dysfunctional characters.

I feel myself slipping into what I call " zombie mode ". Time to make a decision now . switch off the telly and go to bed, I think.

I 've remembered a few more silly jokes.

Doctor doctor , I feel like a pack of cards.
Sit over there and I'll deal with you later.

Doctor doctor , I'm having trouble falling asleep.
Just move to the edge of the bed and you'll soon drop off.

and finally ....

Doctor doctor , I feel like a pair of curtains.
Pull yourself together man !

tee hee ............. night night .. I'm out of here

Neck's please !

 tee hee ......

Sunny spring Sundays are great for a walk in the park. This is Haga Parken , bit far from where I live.

There's a fine looking retro car just around the corner and MT's curiosity gets the better of her and she gets a closer look .

The Butterfly House has been taken over by new owners. Almost everyone was outside enjoying the sunshine. These goodiesstayed indoors.

MT's inner child likes to play. These little froggies got to go home with her.

The "Coppar Tent " a permanent feature in this park. You can picnick indoors when it rains and there is also a café.

This looks like a magnolia.. is it ?

A splash of yellow . Wonder what it is .

The Echo Temple

Things happen when I log on
A demented wasp flies in and buzzes around for a while before deciding to leave again
A visitor's comment sends me to New Zealand ( Via google ) and all of a sudden weird and wonderful place names pop up.. they sound like magic charms

muriwai
katikati
tauranga
kaimai

Lovely !

My friend D. leaves for New Zealand via Cape Town in two month's time. Bless him. Start of a new life all those miles away. What it must be like to do that? It must take a couple of days to get there from Stockholm. A whole new world. Sounds fascinating, especially the indigenous culture. I wonder if I would miss the old buildings of Europe? I'm still very much drawn to the old town part of towns when I visit.

Another friend , B. from Australia is planning to make a pilgrimage of a lifetime to trace her Prussian roots in Kaliningrad and visit the Amber Room in St Petersburg.

The world is getting smaller.

Also, I sense an urgency to do / experience / see things. I'm feeling it has to do with karma.Finding closure ? Resolving issues before moving on ?

Exploring relatonships is high on my agenda.

A quiet Saturday evening in front of the telly; Stepford Wives is on. I odentofy with Bette Midler among all the robot barbies. Stepford must be what "hell" is like lol

Will log off now ....toodles X

These Seeds were planted 17/4

These shoots are 11 days old

Watery itchy eyes nose and ears
Itching inside ears
Irritation
Feel like screaming and crawling out of my skin

Woke myself up from a frustrating dream this morning
One of those dreams that is so intense it feels real.
I'm nn my way to a party with many others
Someone has pinched the bottle of wine I was supposed to bring with me
where the heck is it ?
Noone says anythung
everyone simply ups and goes
"Friends don't do that"
I think to myself in the dream
but I see that they are all ignoring me
Noone is listening
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Took an Aerius tablet.
It's kicked in now
At times like these I am grateful for conventional meds.

Thank you pharmacuutical angels
blessed be

Sometimes I just like to drink red wine and potter around.
It's great being back at home after 3 days away.
I'm missing my friennd D.
So it goes.

When I woke up this morning it took my a while to know what day it was and where I was.
Blessed with a lovely sunny day.
which has flashed by so quickly.
Evening is here before you can turn around properly.

I haven't been drinking red wine all day just for the past few hours.
and I've savoured every drop.

This ligheaded soft and mellow state is beautiful
Poetic even
If I were a poet , I'd be writing poetry.
But I'm not , so I simply drift, daydream
and gaze at the silvery moon with its halo
that is gracing the middle of my living room picture window.

I gave myself a pedicure earliet on and I'm noticing that the skin on my feet is silky smooth.
Nice

And so to bed ..waving goodbye and humming a tune all the way .. oobla dee obla dah

Love and peace to all beings X

In a silly mood .... grab a glass of vinol and click on link

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jimdandy/specials/friend/friend.html

Full Moon Magic The waxing Moon crescendos to full overnight Tuesday, showering lotus blessings on us all. This is the Wesak Moon, the most sacred of Buddhist holy days celebrating the birth, death and enlightenment of the Buddha. This year the Full Moon in Scorpio also coincides with the cross-quarter gateway of Beltane, creating a rare and luminous opportunity to manifest and create, to radiate love throughout the Earth and the Cosmos. Beltane and Wesak link up to create a major power portal from May 1-6. Our thoughts and intent are amplified exponentially throughout this gateway. Full Moons illuminate what has been held in the unconscious. In Scorpio, this Moon delves into the subconscious longings, hopes, dreams and fears that shape our reality. The Moon, Sun, Saturn and Neptune form a Grand Cross in fixed signs at this lunation, and Mercury conjuncts the Sun. What are you dreaming about? Are you living your highest potential? Where are you holding on? What needs to be let go? Allow energy to flow from the ascended realms to illuminate and heal. This is a highly emotional time. Tears cascade as we grieve the loss of what has been and make way for the new. Open to enlightenment. Bask in the wonder and awe of this creation. Feel the feelings. Wesak is a time of ceremony and communion with the masters. Beltane is a celebration of personal blessings and the joy of community. Meditate. Pray. Bless. Uplift your thoughts in each moment. Create with intent. Offer your gifts in service to the Divine. Join with others to co-create and form community. Give. Release. And receive. Namaste.

There is a valley, lying at a rather high altitude in the foothills of the Himalayan-Tibet ranges. It is surrounded by high mountains on all sides except towards the northeast, where there is a narrow opening in the mountain ranges. The valley is bottle-shaped in contour, with the neck of the bottle to the northeast, and it widens very considerably towards the south. Up towards the northern end, close to the neck of the bottle, there a huge flat rock. There are no trees or shrubs in the valley, which is covered with a kind of coarse grass.

Approaching the time of the full moon of Taurus, pilgrims from the surrounding districts begin to gather. The holy men and the lamas find their way into the valley and fill the southern and the middle parts, leaving the northeastern end relatively free. There, so the legend runs, gathers a group of those great Beings Who are the Custodians on Earth of God's Plan for our planet and for humanity.

http://www.souledout.org/wesak/wesaklegend2.html

Full moon in Scorpio.
A truth or dare Full Moon;
Truth-telling transforms
A very intense Full Moon to put into action (through ritual release) the goals you set at the New Moon in Aries.

Releasing your intentions near a stream, river, lake, or ocean is particularly powerful.

Be brutally honestabout your intentions, purpose and goals

"Scorpio seeks deep truth by peeling back layers of lies and half-truths-within us and without us."

Time to see things as they truly are, not as you wish them to be.

We must return to sanity.
How many more deaths?
How many more bombs?
How many more shooting sprees?
How much more hatred?
How much more displaced anger?
When will we ever learn ?

Scorpio is tough love incarnate: see reality as it is, not as you wish it to be, and then deal with it in as life-supporting a way as possible.

Personal responsibility is important.
Stop blaming others.
There is always awareness and choice

the T-square between Uranus/Mars in Pisces, retrograde Jupiter in Sagittarius, and Venus in Gemini will create powerful conditions for expanded levels of open-mindedness, compassion, and generosity of spirit to be inwardly experienced and outwardly expressed.

This is going to be an incredible Full Moon to heal old and new wounds of all kinds

The Full Moon in Scorpio is the night for full disclosure.

It is the night to empower ourselves by naming our truth and shouting it from the rooftops.

This is the Full Moon to celebrate our right to know.

Use this day to effectively deal with workplace power/control issues that have festered under the surface of daily interactions.

The Full Moon in Scorpio is a powerful time for family ritual,

Those of us who can't take all of this deep disclosure can do something a bit more fun. Join your friends for a game of truth or dare, or create a mystery game or a treasure hunt. It'll be a hard night to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, but it might be a lot of fun to try!

So meet the challenge of this Full Moon in Scorpio. Go deep enough to face the underbelly of your life, your goals, your community, your nation, your government, and then arise to embrace your power to transform our violence-wary world!

( my notes from this http://astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm )

It was fabulous.So much to see, feel, experience, smell, taste ..all these fabulous tips before leaving and In the end I just went with the flow and felt that I didn't want to just tick things off a list.
My 3 day Dublin Experience was Awesome. Just perfect in every way. Tailor made for me. Unique.

My friend D is a fabulous gracious generous fun host.I felt for him during the cricket match when South Africans lost to the Aussies. Sad. But there you are. While it's just a silly game as far as I'm concerned, I know that some people take competition seriously. Sad sad sad. Sighs. Ok grieving over. Apperently basket ball team won yesterday, I just heard.

I'm off to Dublin's fair city to day.
Thinking aloud now ...
leave this evening and will be back three days later on Thursday evening.
Going round in circles is what I tend to do whenever I travel.
Packing is the problem
Not to take too much
Take what you need...but what is that ?
What to wear ?
Weather reports say rain
At home when it rains I tend to stay in, but it's not the same when travelling is it ? I want to see things too.
I know I'm thinking too much.
Everything will be fine.

My ticket needs printing out . As my printer isn't working
I have to go to the library to do that .
Won't take long , but it's just another item on the list I have in my mind.
I don't like making real lists.
I wonder why.
Question for another day, another time.

Hairdressers - trim hair.
Get euros at the bus terminal
Ryan Air leaves from Västerås and I've never travelled from that airport. 75mins from the centre of Stockholm by coach.
So, I need to leave from here around 6
Glad it's not in the morning.
Daz will meet me at the airport there.
Great
All done

X

I took up oil painting again 4 years ago. simply because I love messing around with colours. It was scary though.

I was mostly scared of being judged " that 's not art " " That's not very good is it " "what's that supposed to be ? "

For 2 weeks I passed the blank canvas in my living room not daring to start. Then one evening, I sat down in front of the canvas,a piece of charcoal in hand , closed my eyes and went within connecting to my higher self.

" Let what needs to appear ...what needs to be expressed.. what needs to be made visible .. let it appear now "

And so it was.
Shapes started to emerge.
Then colours.
And so" My inner world " became visible.

I'm not saying it is ART.
I'm saying it is an expression of who I am.
If it pleases you, then fine .
If not , then fine.
All is well.

:D:p

....and mi cuppa tea got cold in all the excitement

I do this a lot
I make myself a cuppa
get distracted
and forget about it.

This is getting to be a habit
Lack a day.

This is one of my favourite cups

Suddenly inspiration strikes
and you simply have to do it
not knowing where it might take you

Simply had to get some greeny blue paint onto canvas

Feeling better now
*phew*

to be continued.....................

A lvely Sunday sunny morning of long phone calls from friends, reading blog comments , breakfast and "Everybody loves Raymond " on the telly.

Must go down 4 flights of stairs now to retrieve laundry from laundry room.

When my son was little he asked me one day
" Mum , when are we going to get that lion "
What I had actually said was :
" We need a waffle iron "

During my psychosynthesis training we did many guided imagery journeys . Often these entailed climbing the moutain and having a chat with a wise being.

One of our teachers , American , guided us and was very surprised by the sharings afterwards.

" Mine was tall and spindly and very green ....)
" Mine was brown and round ..."

What most of us had met was a wise BEAN !

hehehehe

Mine's a Braun .. it's