the softening

the long dark is softening ... preparing for her summer holiday?
perhaps she finds this whole dank, cold winter thing as tiresome at times as we do.
she might well be thinking ... "i am well pleased to see the back of you lot till next autumn." 
of course, her sibling, the short dark will still be with us. fighting for his place on these far northern shores. he is still a learner, a young dark incapable of keeping the light at bay except for a few hours close to midnight.
soon, soon, the drawn out golden days, reluctant to leave.
sitting on the porch, chair tipped back, boots up resting on the railing, watching the long day die in an unimaginable blaze of red and gold behind ailsa craig.
we see and feel the magic of the long light through wisdom gained during the long dark.
the dark and the light, twin souls, spinning through time.                                

the fox in the sun

i came home today ... to troon, been away for a while. awoke to sunshine and on the drive over only the woods were still hiding amidst a light mist veil.

my daughter and two of my youngest grandchildren came over for lunch. it was my daughter who spotted the fox!
i had not seen the fox in so long i had almost given up on him. i believe the sighting of 'my' fox is an omen for me. a message from beyond, portending some shift in the focus of my life!

well, today's message must be a biggie! the fox is sitting next to the railway line, right opposite my kitchen window, he has been there for hours. a train just rolled past and i was sure he would have taken off for some safer less public place ...
but, no - he is still there enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. to give him his due, he has moved a foot or so further away from the actual line.
yeah, he may well be a mystical fox but, ain't nobody claiming this boy is lacking in commonsense!

under the crescent moon, or ... the death of a seagull

dating the animal doctor has changed my life in more ways than one. in scotland a vetinary surgeon is bound to offer a twenty four hour emergency service. result - the phone will ring in the small wee hours and my girl will roll out of bed and be on her way to tend to the sick and injured of the animal world.

one evening, fairly soon after we first met, we were on our way home from an outing. her phone rang, on the other end, a gentleman who had found a seagull with a broken wing, as she was not home he had put the bird in her front garden!
yeah, i guess you can tell, the animal doctor is a village dweller - what can i say!

we were thankful that 'the boys' were safely ensconced in the house and that the seagull would at least have been spared the indignity of being eaten by a hound dog!
the winter dark was with us, a crescent moon rode high in a clear and frosty sky. my girl aimed her car lights into the darkness of the garden and turned to me ...

"will you lend me a hand?"

wtf! i am a happily retired flat dweller sans pets. i hardly know this woman and she is expecting me to rummage around in the dark cold and actually capture a seagull! cool as a cucumber i said ...

"yeah sure, of course."

it took us a little while to find and lay our hands on mr.seagull, the wing was so badly broken there would be no fixing it.
so on a dark winter evening under the light of a crescent moon, i held the seagull immobile whilst my new friend administered death to replace pain.

ice is nice

recently scotland has been a wee bit colder than normal.
traffic on the bridge over the river ayr was really slow. i did wonder why... and then i saw THE ICE!
i was so happy when i found this video on you tube, enjoy!

wordless

wordless


tonight the hours creep by undisturbed
by sleep
there was a time when unwritten words
might wake me
buzzing in my night time brain
begging to be penned
no more, fine words no longer my excuse 
for insomnia
for that once unrelenting fountainhead 
of inspiration
lies neglected, dry as the desert sands
devoid, desperate
struck down and bled strangely dry
by writer's block
a humiliating state of self indulgent lack for the wordspinner
left wordless

Copyright © 2004-2011 by Eryll Oellermann

a learning experience

like it or not ...
life is a learning experience!

recently a very dear person, a person i love and whose opinion i respect ...
mentioned "the three fold law".

life sends us reminders, i read and i remembered.
what did i remember ... that which we all know but so often forget.
allow me to share ...

and i quote -
 
" The Three-Fold Law - Punishment Or Gift?

You can blame the gods, you can blame someone else, you can blame anything and everyone, you can even
blame yourself . . .

The thing is, blaming isn't going to get you anywhere. Because
the issue isn't who's at fault and who gets punished. It's
what you can learn.

Each time the unpleasant situation arises, the Divine is
asking you . . .

"Here, would you like to be free of this miserable thing yet?"

Each time, you're offered the opportunity to notice how you're
hurting yourself (not to mention other people, the Earth, and
the gods and goddesses). Each time, you are given the
opportunity to make another choice.

Karma in Wiccan law is an offering of healing.

Beware The Seeds You Plant
Every choice you make plants seeds for the future.

Whether you plant sweet juicy crops or bitter stinging weeds
is entirely up to you. That's the gift of free will.

But whatever you sow, you will reap. Unavoidably. Every choice,
every action, every thought bears fruit.

And since the "fruit" is inside you, you can't escape reaping
it. The most you can do, perhaps, is delay.




 Poison Fruit
And these choices are not merely in the physical realm. It's
not as simple as you hit someone and they hit you back.

When you cherish a grudge or resentment in your heart - even
if it's never expressed - you are feeding yourself poison.

Every uncharitable thought has real repercussions… in your
physical and mental health, and in the world.

Do You Have To Change?
That is why the great sages say, as Gandhi did, that you must
be the change you want to see in the world. There is no other
way.

Regardless of whether the world around you is peaceful, you
will never see that peace, unless you have a peaceful heart.

And without peace in your heart, how could you ever create it
around you? That's like trying to bake bread without any flour.

This is fundamental to Wiccan philosophy - nothing is lost. It
all comes back around.

If you want a peaceful, loving world, it starts in your heart.
Your heart! - and mine, of course, and everyone's. But your
heart
is the only one you have influence over.



 The Magic Of The Three-Fold Law
And the wondrous gift of the Three-Fold Law is that

    * one little thought of compassion,

    * one little act of kindness,

    * one little choice for forgiveness . . .

multiplies!

And keeps multiplying, as the ripples spread out to infinity,
and back again."