New Alder Moon Dreamboard

What a day!!!

Began recording the wonders of a full solar eclipse - probably the last one I'll see (next one expected 2090!!)

It was so eerie how the birds fell silent as the sky darkened... there was a heavy, reverent hush as the sun disappeared behind the moon...

My new journal method is writing with a dip pen - with sepia ink!

And of course, it's the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (Autumn in the Southern) - all things converging in this one wonderful day...

There is a definite Spring-like enthusiasm about this Dreamboard :)

Left-hand page

There's the Spring Equinox page from this year's We'Moon diary praising the balance of day and night, the wonder of Girls, and bees, and birds...

So there's tag of a hive and a thrush proudly protecting her nest and a cute vintage playing card of a Slick Chick :)

Below these is the word Hope and this poem from a We'Moon diary

Harbinger

What's astounding is the five minutes worth

of trailing flocks of snow geese that pass overhead

weaving black and white lines

of distant honking

to the northeast.

I'm looking up for guidance, for reassurance,

they are following ancient patterns

they see through our map of upsets,

connecting to what is good,

what is right, what is natural and

they know what to do,

they are hauling spring in behind them.

(excerpt Mary Kate Protzman 2010)

with a gorgeous painting by amara bronwyn hollow bones (2009) behind it.

Then these a splendid African woman/goddess and a Papaya Art postcard with the words 'dwell in possibility...', the word Dream and a vintage illustration of Zulu Women.

And at the bottom of the page a Spring kitchen window, a wee bird singing in the Alder New Moon and a mandala with the words Balance, Light and Dark.

Wow, a very full page!!

Right-hand page

A string of hydrangeas edges the page, then a page from last year's quote-a-day calender declaring 'be happy' and a page from an old We'Moon diary about the Wild Child (March 20 - April 18). Below here are the words that came to me as I pondered the new Alder Moon:

maiden

fertility

growth

feminine power

feminine mystery

communing

cooperation

giving

generosity

sheltering grove

comfort

Apparently every part of the Alder is useful - the bark for tanning leather, the leaves for dyeing, and the wood is strong and waterproof and perfect for building bridges...

Next to my list is a wee flap page with the word Play on it where I've written Sap Rising and Time to Grow. It's a secret what's under the top flap...

And on the bottom row is a watercolour palette with pinks and greens, another wee bee, a painting of a sculpture of a woman's form and this poem by Renee Hummel (2006)

Don't Sit Still

Don't sit still!
Let your inner being pulse with the wings of a bird
rising and falling with the breath.
Let the wild thing inside you soar beyond its cage
unseen by the keepers of the classroom or the office
who would have you stay motionless
dying within your skin.

Don't sit still!
As though your teeming energy submitted to these chains.
Let the waters of your body roar,
churning oceans in a seashell.
Let the rhythmic snake inside climb the tree unseen.
Let the tips of your fingers open, curiously, each one
the eye of some wild creature.

Don't sit still!
Let your inner being venture out into the wildest terrain,
tasting the fruits that flourish there, tasting the fresh unsheltered sky.
Deftly seek the motion that you may find in stillness,
for there is a current of life inside you, strong enough to lift
your pinioned feathers into flight.

This is EXACTLY how I've been feeling these past few days... Having discovered I can write quite legibly with my new dip pens, I've been scribbling and feeling my spirits soar every time I dip the pen into the ink, leaning on my beloved writing slope...

Truly, I feel powerful and able to do anything, and go anywhere my words choose to take me... After almost 8 years inside the cage of disability, I feel REBORN...