" Le Ciel qui Reve ~ The Dreaming Sky"

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The dreaming sky

shapes storms of light

woven with darker winds

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There are those who gather

in the silence of a shadow land

and listen to the song of this storm

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We must learn to speak the language of darkness

in order to return the balance of light

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We must not turn away 

from the dark song

as this song will teach us 

that all things have their place

in the ancient patterns of life.

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"It is an extraordinary way of the poet's pen ~ with drinking in the ink of darkness and pouring out words of light."

Ibn Burd al-Asghar, Andalusian poet c. 1005

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Darkness companions us, as does Light...we must learn to allow for both as this is the nature of our world. In the Buddhist practice of Tonglen ~the meditation begins with resting in the pure quiet stillness of light, then slowly opening to breathe in the suffering of our world - accepting and allowing this darkness in through the breath and to gently breathe out the light of compassion, wisdom, and peace. This is a work of awareness, of transformation, and of hope for each of us- individually and collectively- it is to deepen our understanding with learning the many languages of darkness that we face at this time in our world. As with al-Asghar's image of the poet's pen, may we discover the healing within our creative imagination and restore the balance of beauty with the outpouring light.

This may be my only entry here as the storms of our world grow stronger and the storms within us take hold. 

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Nature reconciles conflicting elements through the opening movement of a spiral. The sacred geometry of the spiral is a pattern that holds the number 5 within it, much like a compass with the one center point that arcs its reach toward amalgamation and the essential unity of the surrounding 4 corner points in creation. The sacred compass is carving circles that embrace the whole of life that then lift and breathe the divine creative spirals throughout time ~ the winds move like this, the spiraling curl of ocean waves, the billowing curve of clouds, the slow drifting patterns of stars unfurling across the night skies.

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Muhyiddin Ibn' Arabi speaks of this divine reconciling spiral in his chapter on Sublime Wisdom in the word of Moses from the Fusus al-Hikam. In it he writes of the perplexity in existence (al-hayrah) that manifests through the oscillation between two Divine aspects that are apparently contradictory. This oscillation is understood as movement and movement is Life. He continues with establishing unending timelessness to this Divine movement, thereby illuminating within the sacred oscillation there is neither inertia nor death, only pure existence without absence.

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I cannot help but hear the echo of nature's sacred reconciling spiral in Ibn' Arabi's reflection on timeless oscillation between contradictory Divine aspects and the holy movements of life.

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It can not only be perplexing to be in this world of contradiction and conflict, it can also be dangerous for any of us if we become untethered and succumb to the powers of chaos in our time on this earth.

I have found that strength and needed courage to face the darkness- to learn the many languages it speaks- comes through keeping one foot firmly planted in Beauty and the sharing of kindness with our world- an anchoring center point of the sacred compass if you will. It is through being tethered to beauty and light that we may find our nourishment and restful center, equally this tethering center point allows the timeless spiraling arc of the Divine compass to shape us in the mystical unfurling movements of our lives.

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There is this mysterious amalgamizing journey woven into the circular geometry that the Divine compass carves across time~ The circle brings a sense of return-return to itself and its point of origin, that returning also brings a sense of restoration- a restoring of the original form or essence, this includes a kind of reparation for any damage or loss that has been incurred on the journey. To return to the origin point, to repair and restore essence through completion of a circling movement- is to become whole, to come home, to rest in the essential unity that understands all things have their place in the ancient patterns of life. The amalgamizing circular patterns bring forward a kind of sacred "mandala" that offers guidance~ a divine map for returning and for restoration of essence on our journey across time.

Our native people, the ancestors, navigated their journeys of migration in a spiraling path. The ancestors in the Southwest would pilgrimage to their sacred lands in this way, the ancestors of  Hawaii and the Maori of New Zealand navigated vast oceans by following the spiraled patterns of stars unfurling across the night sky. The ancestors that have made their ancient holy pilgrimages to Mecca~ circling ever deeper into the sacred center point of the Kaaba~ always the Divine compass is carving these mystical curves and guiding us across time. 

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These spiraling symbols~ these sacred circles of movement~ guide and protect and nurture the whole of life. Our ancient warriors~ the Celts of Ireland and Scotland, the Picts~ the warrior tribes of Native America~ the Lakota, Navajo, Apache~ the Maori, the Hawaiians....all of our braves would paint themselves and their horses with circular, spiraling symbols before facing their enemy and the darkness of war- these were symbols of guidance and of protection - a whorl of prayer and an offering to Creation to be guided in upholding what is right and true. 

There is this mysterious amalgamizing spiral throughout all of life ~ the double helix that dances in mating butterflies, the circles of growth rings in ancient redwoods, the circular sphere of our earth and the curvature of our stars, the ancient Asclepius spiral of healing, the sacred whirling of the dervish....May we find solace in the circles of kindredness that reveal to us a truth that makes us whole.

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" I live my life in ever widening circles"

 Rainer Maria Rilke 

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I live my life in ever widening circles

that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one

but I will give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower

I have been circling for thousands of years

and I still don't know if I am a falcon, 

or a storm, or a great song.

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I look to the wisdom teachings of our ancestors and those who came before us, I also look to deepen my listening to the natural world and the beautiful spiraling metaphors that are spilling stories of darkness and light across our earth and sky.

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I have written enough words here... The sky photos of storm clouds and light speak their sacred stories much more eloquently than I, it is my hope that you might find nourishment for your imagination in the metaphors of beauty that are offered to us from our skies.

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May we all be tethered to Heaven as we walk on this Earth.

May we share kindness and beauty with each other and all beings in this creation.

May we find the needed ways to spiral, to reconcile, and to restore the healing balance of wisdom and understanding to whatever darkness we are given to attend. 

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May the sacred compass timelessly carve its circled holy patterns into each breath and each spiraling movement of life.

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