A Rare Beauty

Snow White

A friend and I, were lucky enough to see this little albino squirrel running around in gardens in Southsea. A news item in the local paper later reported that she had run into some trouble, when a gang of grey squirrels attacked her in Highland Road Cemetery, but fortunately, some people were on hand to rescue her. She is now being looked after at the Squirrel and Wildlife Centre in the Meon Valley, where she has been named Snow White. I hope she will enjoy a long and hassle free life.

I was delighted to see this little albino squirrel, they are rare, and so I felt it as one of those moments when a door opens and allows a glimpse into the more unusual aspects of nature. It also reminded me that what is different in life is often attacked by the majority. All turned out well for her though, she will be well looked after in an appropriate environment.

In Praise of Autumn

The Falling of the Leaves

Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,

And over the mice in the barley sheaves;

Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,

And yellow the wet-wild strawberry leaves.

The hour of the waning love has beset us,

And weary and worn are our sad souls now;

Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,

With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.

W. B. Yeats

                                     

I love Autumn.  I love the beautiful rich russet and golden colours, and the scent of wood smoke and burning leaves filling the air.  The sound and feel of the fallen leaves crunching underfoot, before the rain turns them to sludge, is always a pleasure. Autumn has always filled me with a sense of longing; a yearning for something unknown, but at the same time deeply familiar. I love the dark nights and the stars, and the mist rolling in from the sea, and that hint of magic and witchery in the atmosphere of the night. I love the  fractured light from street lamps, reflecting off rain soaked roads, and cosy nights by a burning fire. Beautiful Autumn.

                                                                

Harvest Moon

                                                                           

The Harvest Moon   

The Harvest Moon is the full moon that falls closest to the Autumn Equinox. It is also known as the Corn Moon and the Barley moon, as it corresponds to the time of gathering in the harvest crops and threshing the barley. It sometimes occurs in October. It is usually a very bright moon, bright enough to gather the harvest by.

Full Moon in Pisces

A powerful time when dreams and inspiration come to fruition.                      Emotions are heightened, and shift and change in an ocean of feelings. Things are not quite what they seem, we may experience confusion, as we lose a sense of solidity and feel ourselves merging into a greater oneness with life. A time when we feel our hardness dissolve, and our compassion and forgiveness rises to the surface. A time for healing. A time of  meaningful sacrifice.

It's been ten years since 9/11. This is a time of remembering the horrendous attack on New York. It symbolised so many different things to different people. We still don't know the truth of what really happened, and who was at the root of this. So much confusion surrounds those events One thing is for certain, we are fed bullshit and lies by the governments of the Western World.

Ancestral Memories

My Father's Family

I love this old photo.. It was taken about 1910 in  Bacup, Lancashire in the North of Edwardian England. My Grandmother, Gladys, is the little blond girl in the centre.  To the right of her, is her older sister Bella, and to the left, her little sister Ida, my Grand Aunts. My Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather Simpson are with them. They  have all passed from this world now, this is the only photograph of them all together as a family. We have a restored version, but this original and ageing photograph, now over 100 years old, is just wonderful. My Grandmother's family were descended from Danish immigrants who lived and worked in the textile industry in Lancashire.

Stargazing

The Stargazer's Guide

By Emily Winterburn

Photo by Yvonne

Yet another synchronous charity shop find. I had bought this book for a friend in America, and after a recent 'planetary collision' with him, I found myself thinking about the book. No surprise then, when it turned up under my nose in mint condition. I took it as a sign from the cosmos.

It's a lovely book, written by Emily Winterburn, the Curator of Astronomy at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London. The book guides you through the night sky in relation to the months and seasons, and includes myths connected to the zodiac. The author also brings astrology into the picture, and in a way that is respectful to the subject: unusual for a scientist. I think she has a secret sympathy for the ancient wisdom of the planetary spheres.

"There we stay,

and watch the procession of the stars and planets

as our our bodies intertwine, like ribbons,

in this field of the night."

By SB 2007

Good Faeries/ Bad Faeries

Good fairies/Bad faeries

By Brian Froud

I happened across this in a charity store recently. Mr Brian Froud is one of my favourite faery beings...this came to me as I was reaching to look at another book..I hadn't seen this one next to it..and when I withdrew my hand, this book was smiling up at me. Goddess bless you Mr Froud!

Pictured faeries are: top left,

Quempel, the faery of special moments.

Top right: The Vervain Faery. True flower faeries are "tiny specks of light involved with the processes of plant growth at the cellular level. Sometimes however, they manifest themselves in more substantial forms. Even flower faeries have to grow up. The Vervain faery can be called upon for healing, protection, and her general soothing ways."

Bottom left: The Morning faery "fond of appearing in the sudden quiet of the moment" and bottom right The Knowing Faery " There are no secrets from this faery... she knows what you have hidden in your heart." From Good faeries/ Bad faeries by Brian Froud.

The Queen of Passage

Surrender / Transition / Trust

All things change. All situations move from one phase into another. Sometimes those transitions are difficult. Letting go and moving on, whether to a new life, a new love, or perhaps just a new phase of a current relationship, can be painful, but the Queen of Passage is there to help with those transitions. She looks ahead with the keen sight of the kestrel and can see the future with the wisdom of the raven. She holds a pomegranate, a sign of fertility. There is growth in the future. There is a way ahead. The darkness comes as you step from one state to another. The moment of passage between the past and future, between the worlds themselves, is a moment of surrender. Trust this great queen to be your guide. Listen to what she has to tell you and then take that step. She will be by your side in the moment you move out of the past and into the future.

Yvonne is in transition, surrendering to the change.