Mexico

 We are off on our travels next week. The first big trip of the year. I had a quick trip over to Manchester and Weston-super-Mare in January but this is crossing an ocean for the first time in a while.

It's Gerard's 50th birthday next week, on the 10th, so we decided to do something exotic. Egypt was our first thought but we decided that the Middle East and North Africa might be a bit unstable. Then a cartel war erupted in Puerto Vallarta... Thankfully things seem to have quietened down in Mexico as the situation gets worse in Iran.

On Wednesday we are taking KLM to Amsterdam from Dublin, and from there direct to Mexico City. After a few days in the city we take a tour through the Aztec, Zapotec and Maya areas in Mexico and Guatemala, finishing in Belize City. Then we fly home via Atlanta.

The trip of a lifetime... 

Candle Light

 Candle light

It's part of a sacred moment. I light a candle and dedicate it to the goddess, thinking of people in age past who did the same thing, different goddesses or gods over millennia of time.

The candle casts a pale light, tentative at first until the wick really flares us. Now I see the room around me, the light catching on the corners of the books on the table, the mirror on the wall and the notebook and pen in front of me. 

I pick up the pen and start to write, morning pages for the new year and the new day. 

The thoughts pass in front of my mind. What am I grateful for today? What affirmations do I want to make for myself? How do I want to be today?

Time passes. The candle burns down slowly and the sky brightens with the rising sun, red and orange in the morning air.  

My pen stops writing. Now the day can begin.

Thought for the Day

 

A Dream of Blue

 

A Dream of Blue

The sky is always there, even when there are clouds and rain like there are today.

Blue is the colour of creativity, calm and serene, giving healing energy and letting my spirit soar, up into the wide blue sky.

This is a year of creation. A year of development, of energy, of courage and commitment.

I commit to myself in the dream, as I drift among the stars. 

All it takes is one small step. A reaching out to take something that I already have.

My mind is not always a limiter, a judge or a critic. It can be free to take me where I want to go.

I envision the future. My future self looks back and sees me as I am today.

I am here now, on this grey January day. The clouds and rain are here. But the sky is still blue.

New Year's Eve 2025/26

 New Year's Eve

I sit at the gateway to the year 

Reading Tarot by candlelight

Days of Omens

Crows, the dark birds of the Morrigan, Ireland's Shadow Queen

They call and echo her demand for action

Harsh-sounding poetry, echoing and rhyming in ways that jolt

The magic, the light and the shadow

On the threshold as the year fades into the new

And now I am old, though truly I love being older

Wiser with the learning I have done through time

Now I feel the age covering me

As the year quietly ends and starts again

I am grateful as everything gears up to move

After the still point of midnight

I am safe, secure

Cold outside but warm in here

My sanctuary is here, my altar and my ancestors

I face the future once again

And breathe in

The Barest Hint

I remember the tile on the floor. It was white with a hint of grey, the pattern was like an angel's wing. If I half closed my eyes I could even see the angel, and imagine him as my protector, my avenger.

What would it feel like to be safe? I wondered. What if I were enfolded in an angel's wings and shielded from harm?

I couldn't imagine that, to be honest. My mind wandered. I could lose myself in the depths of my imagination. I saw myself living someone else's life. Happy. Vital. Glowing. Proud.

But the angel somehow came back to me. What would his name be? I wondered. The great archangels all had solid names. Gabriel. Michael. Uriel. But if we all had one looking after us, it wouldn't be one of those. Could an angel be called Doris? Or Mandy? Or Alfie?

I smiled to myself as I imagined my angel being called Dolly. I could see her (or him?) in front of me, wings outstretched. Dolly would keep me safe. Dolly would protect me.

I lay on the cold bathroom floor, a drop of my blood on the tile beside me.

Help me now please, Dolly

The Forest

Last night I dreamt of a forest. Dark trees, shining Moon. Deep night and the shining moonlight. Litter of leaves, damp mud beneath.

But the trees. Sentinels, guardians. Trunks straight, proud. Branches dark, strong. I walked and breathed. I could smell the pine, the leaves and even the moonlight. I was among giants and not afraid. I touched each trunk as I passed. I knew their names, called to them. They are angels, guardians. I was safe, secure. The forest breathed in and out with me. I was home. I belonged. The trees loved me. I knew them, they knew me. No birds, no bats. Just me and the trees.

The night was a blanket covering us all. I saw the depths of the forest laid out, a city of trees. I felt the magic of their protection all around me. I was home. I was home. 

Thought for Today

 

Thought for Today