mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
Twelfth Month
November 26, 2012
— 2 Comments
Twelve is a perfect mathematical way to look at everything. There are twelve of everything important because this is a simple, even way to divide any whole. The twelve astrological signs are found in twelve houses that represent different aspects of life and parts of the heavens. The twelfth house is the one that rules the unconscious. By keeping the public from seeing the contents the owner of this house reviews the risks and benefits of the unknown parts of the self. In the heavens, the twelfth house is the one just above the horizon at sunset, the last one visible before darkness. There are twelve Chinese animals that rule the years and hours of each day, passing in a slower, but even pace. These animals rule a year rather than a month, but it is all still divisible by 12.
We have a practice of creating a list for the first day of the first month known as resolutions. These are widely discussed and abandoned in short order until the following first month of the next year. By observing the universal failure of this practice I have devised a new one. By using the last month of the year to review and discover the deep, unconscious meaning of the 11 previous months, we may be able to make significant progress. By facing the shadow, the unknown, the undiscovered that we glaze over with overactivity on a regular basis, we may find wisdom and useful knowledge. You do not need to analyze all of your past to know that important emotions and facts have been swept under a big busy rug of quotidian fuss. You don’t need to meet all your demons, addictions, or delusions of actions past to make progress on taking good care of yourself. You simply have to be willing to consider that the darkness of your own heart may be the only thing blinding your vision. You need to be able to reverse all your assumptions for a while.
Saturnalia is the party time dedicated to Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, and therefore part of December. Romans reversed all rules and authority during the celebration. After the darkest day of the year, the light returns, reversing the visibility available each day until the summer solstice. The celebration of the darkest time when the world is reborn in the form of seeds and saplings is a universal need through all of history. Here we have some present day Brits dressing up like Romans and getting down for Saturn in December. The beat goes on.
How to Become a Super Model
November 13, 2012
— 1 Comment
Find the essence of who you are meant to be through refinement and distillation.
Mollie Lu and the still
Keep your options open.
Mollie Lu
Enjoy the ride.
Jumps for Joy
Take some calculated risks.
Letting Go
Remember to thank the fam.
Max, Mollie, and Ben
State that you are one, and firmly maintain it.
Mollie Lu Looks at You
British Bible Belt
November 11, 2012
— 8 Comments
William and Lucinda Jane
My great grandfather, William Ellison Taylor, was a farmer and a preacher in the Church of Christ in Texas after the Civil War. He had beautiful handwriting which I have in the form of his Confederate pension application. He was shot in the knee at Second Manassas, but still had to get back to Selma, Alabama. He survived to marry Lucinda Jane Armer, who ironically is a descendant of the Plantagenets. They moved to Texas along with Lucinda’s parents after the war.
The place and time Lucinda and William lived was an echo of the dramas of their ancestors who had Bible issues of biblical proportion back in their homeland of England. Lucinda’s family was playing music in the court of Henry VIII when he killed some wives and made himself the head of the new Church of England. Other members of her family were Plantagenets, being royal.
King of France Louis IX (1215 – 1270)
is your 21st great grandfather
Son of King of France
Son of Philip The
Daughter of Charles
Daughter of Jeanne
Son of Philippa
Daughter of John of Gaunt – Duke of
Daughter of Joan
Son of Duchess of York Lady Cecily
Son of Henry
Son of Henry
Son of John
Son of Francis Gabriell
Daughter of John
Son of Elizabeth
Son of Richard
Son of George
Son of George
Daughter of David
Daughter of Minerva Truly
Daughter of Sarah E
Mary Tudor disrupted the reign of the Plantagenets and made martyrs of William E Taylor’s ancestors. The big problem was the way everyone felt about the Bible and who should read it. William Taylor may have been named for his 8th great grand uncle, William Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for translating and publishing the Bible in English. His niece Margaret was married to Rev. Rowland Taylor, also burned at the stake for his religious convictions. The British Bible belt was worse that just burning crosses…..they actually burned the people they found to be heretical.
William Tyndale (1507 – )
his 8th great grand uncle
Father of William
Daughter of John
Son of Margaret
Son of Thomas
Son of Thomas
Son of Col James
Son of John
Son of John
Son of John
Son of John Nimrod
Son of John Samuel
Certainly William and Lucinda lived the Bible belt philosophy. I went to the Church of Christ a couple of times with my cousins when I was visiting in Houston as a kid. It was very foreign to my church experience, being fully stripped of all remnants of fancy dressing. No pipe organ, no choir, no stained glass, very austere, and they went there twice on Sunday and again on Wednesdays. I did not relate to the whole thing. I grew up in Pittsburgh in a post industrial country club culture with cocktails. I never understood the cousins and all that Bible stuff because my parents did not do it. I think I am starting to know why they still had that in the Taylor family. Once somebody dies for something, the least the family can do is go along with the belief for a few generations.
Dreaming of the Dead
November 1, 2012
— 2 Comments
As we prepare for the dead to visit earth over the weekend I daydream about all my relations. In the study of my family tree I become infatuated by the various ancestors as I learn about their lives and times. I love it when they have left a picture of any kind, even of the grave they occupy. I also become excited when I see the handwriting they used. All original documents or photos of their homes give me a connection to their styles. I am a huge enthusiast of all that I discover and learn through the study of genealogy. It may well be true that I prefer the dead to the living at least part of the time.
I am also studying the archetypes that play in the dramas of our lives, interior and exterior. We know that our unconscious is influenced by the books we read, the shows we consume, even the conversations we enter. I don’t work on my family tree each day, but there is not a day that passes without thinking about some of my dead peeps and their adventures on earth. My conscious and unconscious is involved in the ghost of everything past. I never have the urge to join the DAR or reenact battles, but have started to plan travel around the dead peeps who lived in the areas I will visit. This month I am focused on my Pilgrims, the beliefs, the hardships and the failures they encountered. At the moment I am discovering Jeremiah Rhodes. He was a wild thing of a Pilgrim.
Zachariah Rhodes (1603 – 1665)
is my 10th great grandfather
Son of Zachariah
Son of Malachi
Daughter of Malachi
Daughter of Dorothy
Son of MARGARET
Son of Benjamin
Son of Paul
Daughter of Valentine
Son of Sarah LaVina
Son of Jason A
Son of Ernest Abner
I am the daughter of Richard Arden
He drowned in the river near his home after all kinds of major adventures, which included founding Rhode Island. He was opposed to the law in Massachusetts that obligated citizens to support preachers financially. He was thrown in jail briefly for making public statements about this conviction. This fabulous rebel archetype had the right circumstances and energy to live out his ambitions without abandoning his beliefs. He married Benedict Arnold’s sister, Joanna Arnold. I can picture my own fantasy movie of the lives of these early settlers. As I turn my attention to dreaming I hope to be visited this week by these and all the other relations who contributed to my existence. I invite all these saints to come marching through my dreams. I am wishing for some period costuming of a dreamy nature, but am okay if you decide just to visit as a ghost.
Alchemist Archetype
October 29, 2012
— 2 Comments
fermentation at home
In my study of the archetypes I have procrastinated badly around the character of the alchemist. I have homework that involves writing to the archetypes and tracking them in my own life. When I arrived at the second house of my own chart and found this character I stalled. Maybe I stalled, or maybe I needed a few months to consider what the alchemist does. Doing the journal project I found a few people in my past who represent this aspect of life, some of whom had not come to mind for decades before I asked myself to find them. I readily accept that this is part of me, but the definition of what it is and how I use it became a blank and a mystery. This requires great discipline. I must handle it with great respect or drop the entire curriculum. The distillation of time and space is the realm of the alchemist. I have been involved in it all my life. I still have a big interest in all the mystery schools and twirling Sufis in all of history.
If we look at all the ways magic and nature have been combined the most common use is to cure. Medicine has included alchemy, which was derived from basic observation of nature. If you go into an 800 year old pharmacy in Europe you will see the astrological signs on the wall, and the snake delivering the water used to take your pills. The unbroken tradition of magic linked to medicine thrives in places where the folk medicine still uses native plants and elements to cure. Indigenous peoples around the world do this without referring to alchemy in the European sense.
Since I am also interested in the DNA, the contribution made by the ancestors to my composite, I notice the few doctors or pharmacists who appear in my tree. On my mother’s side before 1400 a couple of generations of nice Jewish doctors lived and worked in northern Spain during the time when Jews, Christians, and Arabs all thrived in a multi cultural party of intellectual delight. Joshua ben Ibn Vives al Lorca was my 15th great grandfather.
IBN VIVES AL-LORQUI (OF LORCA), JOSEPH BEN JOSHUA: By : Richard Gottheil Meyer Kayserling Spanish physician; died before 1372; father of Joshua ben Joseph ibn Vives al-Lorqui. He revised Tibbon’s translation of Moses Maimonides’ “Millot Higgayon” and dedicated the revision to his pupil Ezra ben Solomon ibn Gatigno. He wrote also the “Sefer Yesodot.”G. M. K.
His son Joseph was also a famous physician in Spain. These ancestors qualify as alchemists for many reasons. They had the presence of mind to move to Sicily before the Spanish Inquisition. Due to their great talents as musical instrument makers and musicians, Henry the 8th imported Anthony (1511-1574) from Venice to England to play in the royal court. They used the wisdom they had to use time and space to their advantage. They turned danger into survival.
Joshua ben Joseph/Joseph ben Joshua ibn Vives Al Lorqui (1370 – 1408)
is your 15th great grandfather
Son of Joshua ben Joseph/Joseph ben Joshua
Son of Joshua ben ibn
Son of Julus
Son of Santo
Son of Maestro Jeronimo “DeDasi”
Daughter of Anthony
Son of Lucreece Lucretia
Son of John Thomas
Daughter of Sampson
Daughter of Elizabeth
Son of Martha
Daughter of David
Daughter of Minerva Truly
Daughter of Sarah E
Son of Lucinda Jane
Daughter of George Harvey
is the daughter of Ruby Lee
Charism
October 26, 2012
— 3 Comments
Hendrix in Tune
The idea that we all have access to deeper or higher powers is indicated in religions. It is also embedded in medicine and mythology. The individual is called on to find courage to discover and develop the talents or graces given for spiritual development. Some are called to musical interpretations, others to various forms of creativity. These vocations, or callings are the gate, the opening through which the divine enters the world. By carefully copying others or projecting an image to please the public one specifically stops unique gifts from being expressed. Charisma is an attraction to a special, unique force. Charism is the influence exerted by the unique force.
When kids learn patterns from adults today they are likely to be focused and stuck in the physical appearance or status of a person place or thing. The Dalai Lama once advised in his teachings to seriously observe the way you feel about an object (place or event works here too) you desire. He added that the details of the feelings are the most important parts to observe. Noticing the feelings toward the object when you decide to buy it, at the moment it is acquired, and again three months after the purchase tells a story of fleeting emotions, and perhaps buyers’ remorse. This desire/want more syndrome is the nature of the physical realm. If no attention is given to individual gifts or talents the cycle of never ending desire will be the only path taken in life. The treadmill of wanting what others have will consume all available time and energy.
Artists find both beauty and divine inspiration in practicing their arts. A charismatic person accepts responsibility for nurturing his or her talent. The path of creative expression focuses on personal ways to distill the beauty of nature for enjoyment by all. Charism is not a commercial effort or ROI on some training received. It is the bold decision to connect the physical world to the cosmos through mediation and art. The kids today do not need to join an order or commit to a religious vocation to be exposed to the idea that their special gifts are worth discovery. The talents are worth development because they are also gifts for the entire world. Kids need encouragement and appreciation of their artistic abilities, and exposure to the artistic work of others. Can you find your own charism and use it to inspire other people?
Yaqui Man of Knowledge, Cachora
October 25, 2012
— 6 Comments
The first time I saw Cachora he was sitting in the shade using a needle and thread to thread tiny seed beads. He was about 85 years old, wearing no glasses. The sight of him actually able to do this made me laugh hard out loud. He commented without looking up, in Spanish, saying he was just another Indian doing handicrafts. I had been told that he was Don Juan. He spreads this rumor himself, but it is not hard to figure out that he isn’t.
Cachora at the bead table
I asked him if he was a shaman, to which he responded negatively. He said he was a man of knowledge. He then began to tell me his entire cosmology. He began with his birthday and place, then his parents birthdays and place. He and his father were born in Rio Yaqui, Sonora, like Don Juan. Cachora’s mother was from Oaxaca. His parents had met while collecting plants for medicine. He told me his parents had never used pesos in their lives, but had traded medicinal plants for all they needed. This was their craft and way of life. The vest he shows here belonged to his father, and was worn for healing ceremonies. That is the case, if Cachora is telling the truth about this vest. He is what is known in the world of medicine as a coyote. He lies a lot, misleading and amusing himself with the confusion of others. So I took the birthday information and went to a book store to buy and reread A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda. The first fact given about Don Juan is this birthday, many years before Cachora’s.
symbols on the healing vest
This man of knowledge became my friend. I called him on the Don Juan thing on my second visit. I also remembered to bring him what he wanted rather than money. This practice made me a favorite. His first requests were for some specific stone beads, some hummingbird feeders, and some reading glasses. I returned with his wish list items about three months after we had met. I used to hang out and joke with him, learning a little about plants. He told me that I am a siren.
Cachora and the healing vest
I spoke with a friend in Tijuana last year and learned that he was still alive and kicking. His much younger wife, Josefina, had died, but he was in the company of a young girlfriend from Spain. He is not Don Juan, but, as he puts it, there is some of him in all those books. South of Tecate, in the valley of the sorcerer, a Yaqui hombre de conocimiento named salamander (that is the translation of Cachora) is still in the business of knowledge.
beaded vest
Royal Lovers
October 23, 2012
Katherine Swynford
I found one woman from Manhattan who was my ancestor twice. When her first husband died, she married and had another child. Both a daughter from her first and her second marriages became my ancestors. I have been thinking how odd it was that the step sister’s issue married 5 generations later. I decided 5 generations was enough genetic mixing, and since they were Knickerbocking there were few other fancy Dutch reformers to marry. This is not so odd. The truly striking coincidence in my tree is a royal Brit named John of Gaunt ( born in Ghent).
I have discovered that John of Gaunt is my ancestor three different ways, with three different wives, and of both of my parents. He was involved in a famous royal love affaire more bizarre than Charles and Camilla. He had a mistress, Katherine Swynford, who later married him. They had four children together, and as his last wife she acted as step mother to the children of his two previous marriages. Katherine and John had a daughter Philippa, who is 6th great-grandmother to Gov. Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts Bay Colony, my 10th great-grandfather.
John Gaunt Lancaster PLANTAGENET (1340 – 1399)
is your 18th great grandfather
Daughter of John Gaunt Lancaster
Daughter of Philippa
Son of Beatrix
Son of John
Daughter of Richard
Daughter of Anne
Daughter of Mary
Son of Susanna
With his Spanish wife he had a son John who also became the 8th great grandfather of Gov Thomas Dudley, by way of Scotland
John Gaunt Plantagenet (1340 – 1399)
is your 19th great grandfather
Son of John Gaunt
Daughter of John Marquis Somerset
Daughter of Joan
Son of Joan
Son of John
Daughter of Robert Lord
Daughter of CATHERINE
Son of Lady Elizabeth
Son of Capt Roger
Daughter of Gov Thomas
Son of Anne
Daughter of John
Son of Mercy
Daughter of Caleb
Daughter of Mercy
Son of Martha
Son of Abner
Son of Daniel Rowland
Son of Jason A
Son of Ernest Abner
the daughter of Richard Arden
His first marriage was a happy one, that produced another ancestor, on my mother’s side. After 15 generations my parents met in Houston Texas and married. What are the chances of this happening?
John of Gaunt – Duke of Lancaster – Plantagenet (1340 – 1399)
is your 16th great grandfather
Daughter of John of Gaunt – Duke of
Daughter of Joan
Son of Duchess of York Lady Cecily
Son of Henry
Son of Henry
Son of John
Son of Francis Gabriell
Daughter of John
Son of Elizabeth
Son of Richard
Son of George
Son of George
Daughter of David
Daughter of Minerva Truly
Daughter of Sarah E
Son of Lucinda Jane
Daughter of George Harvey
the daughter of Ruby Lee
John of Gaunt is some kind of karmic common denominator of my genetic heritage. I think I need to study him and all of the grandmother wives. Maybe everyone has an ancestor like this, but I find it to be incredible. I have achieved the triple crown of ancestry…now what?
John Prince of England, King of Castile
Heaven on the Ceiling
October 21, 2012
When we identify ourselves we use memory and words to describe our personalities. We play different roles in our lives, which can be broken down into archetypes. Understanding the ancient pantheon or modern breakdown of archetypes at work will reveal your true motives and those of others. The use of astrology in art is a way to place different aspects of life in alignment with different personality traits. In the Renaissance it was suggested that by painting the gods and goddesses that rule each planet of the birth horoscope on the bedroom ceiling as a reminder of the many forces at work, a student of magic/medicine would be well served. The plants and medicines were ruled by planets, and the maladies each had a planetary influence as well. To practice medicine was to be in tune with all that science could offer and all that folk medicine could prove empirically. Symbols work directly in the healing arts just as they do in religion. Beyond words, meaning conveyed through amulets, talismans, astrological paintings, and other magic objects goes to work at a subconscious level. What is your environment saying to you?
To unplug from our own daily delusions through meditation and retreat is healthy. Carl Jung built his stone tower to surround his soul with art that directly symbolizes his inner being. To be fully individuated was the intention behind building the tower by hand in Bollingen and living/decorating it with the symbols that had meaning to him. Living off the grid, and on the water Jung was able to create a retreat that embodied his own psyche. Using his own nature combined with the spirit of the place Jung built a living evolving hermitage. He was interested in alchemy at the end of his career. He was an esteemed shrink with many followers, yet when he went symbolic alchemical on them they did not appreciate the work he had decided to pursue. He was in a position to do as he pleased. The publication of The Red Book after his death has revealed how much he did exactly that.
If you had a place on the water with funds devoted to your building of a retreat what kind of temple would you construct? If you had your choice of materials and colors how would you design your surroundings? If there is no lakeside property in your holdings, do you have a corner of a room, or a space on your window sill to set aside as your own altar or sacred reminder? Is there an inherited item that belongs in the spot, or does it need some art created by and for you? Do you successfully use your gifts as they arrive, while always developing a deeper, more confident, content sense of yourself in this world? Do you have a big backlog of inherited symbols that do not belong with you at all, but are still hanging around in your life? How much of your environment feeds your soul? Can you find a place for personal art and meditation, whatever that means to you? Do you have a few minutes each day to be still and know? These small steps can be a change in direction toward a full happy life. Find a space and a few minutes. See what you can do with them.
