Happy belated Beltane..

To all of you a happy Beltane – for me my most favourite celebration, marking the beginning of summer and the flowering before the dying.

I hope that all that you wish for comes to fruition – just be careful what you wish for 😉

Blessed Be

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Heron Rises from the Dark, Summer Pond                                                                                                                               

So heavy is the long-necked,long-bodied heron,

always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings open
and she turns from the thick water,

from the black sticks of the summer pond,
and slowly rises into the air
and is gone.

Then, not for the first or the last time,
I take the deep breath of happiness,
and I think how unlikely it is

that death
is a hole
in the ground,

how improbable
that ascension
is not possible,

though everything seems so inert,
so nailed back into itself –

the muskrat and his lumpy lodge,
the turtle, the fallen gate.

And especially it is wonderful
that the summers are long
and the ponds so dark and so many,

and therefore it isn’t a miracle
but the common thing, this decision,
this trailing of the long legs in the water,

this opening up of the heavy body
into a new life:

see how the sudden gray-blue sheets of her wings
strive toward the wind;

see how the clasp
of nothing

takes her in.

Mary Oliver

Goddess of Small Things - Helena Nelson-Reed

In the Words of the Artist: “Goddess of Small Things is about caring for seemingly insignificant creatures; mice, moles etc. There are so many worthy causes, but there are also less dramatic issues and situations we confront everyday and in our own lives, the one place where one can make a difference. On a deeper level its about compassion for all beings, including those right beneath our feet and that make us squeamish. Also, caring for oneself and the parts of oneself that feel ‘unexceptional’ or less than desirable.”