At the Cross Roads

Around the circle we go, with the shift from light to dark becoming more apparent. The spiral has led us to the footsteps of the fire festival of Samhain, which has many other names such as All Hallows Eve, All Souls Night, Halloween, etc.

Samhain reminds us that the cycle of life includes death and decay, an aspect that western humans have a challenging time accepting, unlike other cultures. The Egyptian Book of the Dead and The Tibetan Book of the Dead come to mind. The later being an ancient Buddhist text based on a large corpus of writings titled The Bardo Thodol. The popularized version here in the west was written by Dr. Walter Y. Evans-Wentz and first published in 1927 by Oxford University Press.

In the alchemical tradition, we observe nature as a mirror of our self. As the landscape colors shift, the flowering cycle ends and leaves fall off trees, these individual elements shift. In their decay they have a vibrant afterlife, nourishing fungi, animals and becoming part of the collective mulch, all part of the gears in the fabric of life. Somehow, more than ever, humans are gripping, with bloody fingers, to a one dimensional timeline of living. Obviously, with the onset of the Anthropocene, we are at a significant crossroads with an end of life scenario looming out on the visible horizon, at least according to one timeline.

The holiday also brings with it a myriad of other traditions like the honoring of ancestors, embracing our shadow elements and a host of archetypes, including my favorite -> the witch.

Generally I get a little triggered by the one dimensional, incomplete manner which she is portrayed this time of year. Luckily we have wise women like Caroline Myss and Clarissa Pinkola Estes who have provided us with a much richer and dynamic perspective on her as the crone in the triple aspect of the Goddess.

We honor her at this crossroads, where she guards the gate between the worlds during this time, when the veils at their thinnest. Be mindful if you encounter her, she is wise and powerful, often challenging us to encourage our own growth and awareness. May we humans bear witness to the shadow realm, honor our ancestors and embrace the cyclical journey of life, including the recognition that death and decay are part of the whole.

One foot in front of the other

This journey of moving both the perfumery and our household has been epic! During the entire process I've been listening to a a book series proposed by my daughter Eve. Today, as I was driving from our little woodland house to my moms home in Encino, I realized that most of our personal experiences mimic iconic stories of heros/heroines. We all have characters in our lives that hurtle fire balls at us and a wizard/wizardess or two who come to help us as we attempt to refine ourselves into the wizard/wizardess. Personally I like the image of Galadirel as the powerful force that battles the dark forces with me, but Serafina Pekkala is pretty cool too. I'm sure there are others I could conjure given some extra time. Who do you envision coming to help you or yourself becoming? I really need to go check out the new Wonder Woman movie.

Ah, speaking of fantasy, Greg is currently at Comic Con in San Diego, find him in Artist Alley at table EE-24. He took the Divine Alchemy banner with him along with lots of original art that he has been threatening to burn in a bonfire in New Mexico. If you have always wanted to own one of his vintage original pieces, get it now before the burn!

Speaking of characters, the garage sale was good but a really odd experience due to some of the very eccentric personality traits that descended at the event on Saturday. Ben mentioned that "garage sale people are a different breed", yea, no kidding! Thing is, I go to garage and estate sales hunting for vintage treasures, and I am definitely not part of that breed. However in the end we were able to get rid of things make some bucks to help this journey we are on and also meet lots of my moms neighbors.

Next on the task list is donating items for a tax deduction and/or  listing others on venues such as Craigslist. I began the process of listing items with my four original, vintage Emeco chairs. After taking the photos, writing the listing and putting it up I'm feeling sorta done with selling furniture and other stuff online. I prefer to donate the stuff and move onto teaching about the plants and pure fume. If your interested in the Emeco chairs, keep reading, if not I'll catch ya later with another update soon, probably with dates on live, local classes.

The Emeco chairs are light and extremely cool, Greg and I decided to sell them since we are planning on going for a more classical type style in Santa Fe. While typing out the description I learned quite a bit more about the chairs and the company that have made me fall in love with them again!

The legend of these simple, sturdy, humble chairs begins with its founder Wilton Carlyle Dinges and the creation of the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (EMECO), still located in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Originally created in 1944 for US Navy submarines and warships to withstand harsh conditions such as salt water & air as well as an occasional torpedo blast. The story goes that Dinges tested the strength of the chair by tossing them out of a sixth-story window! By using salvaged aluminum, which was plentiful in 1944, Emeco perfected a 77-step proprietary process which yields aluminum three times stronger than steel resulting in a chair so durable that it has an estimated life span of 150 years.

The chair has survived seven decades of the military’s need and now is a fixture in restaurants, hotels, offices and film. Emeco’s all-aluminum chairs and stools come with a lifetime guarantee and tested to withstand 1,700 pounds of weight. Besides the aluminum is completely recyclable.

Images:
Divine Alchemy and Spalenka paintings ©GregSpalenka
Serrafina Pikala screen shot

Happy Independence Day!

I'm sort of taking the day off, it's Independence Day here in the US after all, not that a major holiday would influence a perpetual artist. Day, night, linear time doesn't much affect those living in the creative realm except for perhaps getting to the post office with packages before they close.

I started the morning with some gardening including the daily task of gathering the pikake blossoms and putting them into the ongoing tincture. Since there were too many spent flowers in the potion, before adding the new batch, I filtered it and removed the clear, skeletal looking posies. One of the new tasks I've added to the process of filtration is that afterward I will run water through the spent florets that are sitting in the strainer and drink the potion. It's a delicious, refreshing potion with the notes of jasmine sambac and adds a nice addition to the ongoing ritual.

Besides lounging and enjoying the freedom of it, my main agenda today is reading  more of "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. I've been curious about this novel since it came out and a facebook friend mentioned it to me. Then, in January while enjoying the medieval dye garden at Highland Hall Waldorf School, the book came up in a conversation with one of the faculty members. I had brought up the film "Only Lovers Left Alive" which led to a discussion about vampires and the book. It wasn't until a few days ago that I finally took a moment to have the book transferred to my local library and I started reading it.

The alchemical symbols on the cover immediately intrigued me, followed by the first paragraph with the main character, Dr, Diana Bishop, gathering leather-bound manuscripts from Oxford's Bodleian Library.

I'm not very far into the novel as I type this, but, I've already noticed that the author has a great use of scent in her writing which has added yet another level of appreciation for me. I'm in heaven and hyper conscious of that impending moment when you realize how depressing it will be once you have finished a great book. Luckily this is a trilogy, so the anticipated point of gloom can be let go for awhile.

More soon, in the meantime, the prevailing scent for Independence Day seems to be "smoke" emanating from all the barbeques here in the wooded hills. This evening the note will have an added slightly metallic aspect from the firework festivities down in the valley.