Saltmarsh watersnake in a mangrove swamp. Not pictured are the mosquitos in their dark-clouded legions. Saltmarsh watersnake in a mangrove swamp I’ve seen a lot of ibises, though too small to take on serpents of this size. I’m open to being surprised. ————————— Serpents have rich symbolism, both benefic and malefic like any other. When … Continue reading The Closed Circle
Meditation
What Hovers Over the Waters
A few weeks ago in a grocery store I saw a man wearing a shirt that said: “Your actions define who you are.” What came to mind was what James Allen countered with: “The aphorism, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but … Continue reading What Hovers Over the Waters
What to Make of the Flowers
“When the world seems to tremble on its foundations, a glance cast upon a flower can restore order.”~ Ernst Jünger, Journal 1945–1948. Aristotle, and some 1,500 years later Aquinas, would call the vegetative soul the most basic aspect of the living hierarchy, with Plato too before them attributing the ‘appetitive’ aspect of the tripartite soul … Continue reading What to Make of the Flowers
Man the Animal
Science and the materialists say we’re apes. Traditional teachings say the same, to a point. This shouldn’t be an observation that alarms anyone, though of course it’s a common tendency to desire to be special and view oneself as somehow separated from the animal; and we are, ideally. Part of what sets us apart from … Continue reading Man the Animal
Breath, Word, Language
"The mouth is the beginning of all speech,a support to wisdom and a comfort to the wise,and a prosperity and trust to every earl."~ Old English Rune Poem. ᚨ In many cultures it is a shared perspective that all is symbol, an expression and reflection of principles which exist above it in a Law of … Continue reading Breath, Word, Language
Sum Ergo Oro 