The Sensational Melissa Etheridge who I could listen to forever, though I do feel that she is unfortunately underrated for she is a very talented singer and musician.
Saturday, 15 November 2014
The Sensational !
The Sensational Melissa Etheridge who I could listen to forever, though I do feel that she is unfortunately underrated for she is a very talented singer and musician.
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
PUBLIC OPINION
The photo is of Squeak our feisty tailless small cat.
the smell of strong fresh coffee and organic honey, A small teaspoonful of the latter in the first cup awakens me sufficiently to face the day.
This morning, we (Mrs H & I) learnt about the power of public opinion on Facebook: three days ago persons unknown to me ripped off one of
Mrs H’s images and defaced it with words of their own and posted it up on their page without even having the decency to give credit to her original work.
Mrs H complained about breach of copyright on the page and received abusive and ignorant comments from the people who are the pages’ owners. Her replies to them were just and exact, as one would expect for in her younger days she was once engaged in a legal office.
The consequence is that the particular FB page has been inundated with fans of her paintings writing in to complain about what they had done. This morning Mrs H received a private message from the page owner complaining about the number of protest mails that had been sent, however the power of public opinion has worked for the defaced and stolen image has now been removed.
On behalf of Mrs H. - If you were one of those who mailed a complaint to FB - Thank You for your support.
Finally wouldn’t it be great if we could put a stop to all of the wars by the same method ?
Sunday, 26 October 2014
Almost end of Summer
The end of Summer is but a few days away November 5th/6th and it will be Samhain, it seems that nobody has told the Calendula or the Roses to stop flowering.
This red bush beyond the arch brightens the day. I have no idea
what it's name is.
The Calendula has jumped out of the planter
and looks to be very healthy
This delightful lady never ceases to bloom
Orange berries send me their name please ?
Just to the left of the picture is an Oak whose seed was germinated
by Colm Mac Con Iomaire a few years ago when he was recording at studio in France.
A certain German silversmith whose name I shall not metion nearly killed it when using my strimmer, fortunately it recovered!
This blog will be exceptionally quiet for awhile. For am busily engaged writing a book for my Grandson Ollie who was four the other day and has now left his babyhood behind him.
Ollie at 4
Monday, 13 October 2014
Story for Ollie
Once upon a time in the middle of Ireland there was a great big field, an enormous field that touched the the sea on each side.
Each of the seas were a different size, the one on the left was a little sea that touched England. The colour of this sea was bright blue and from a high flying plane a small boy was able to see boats going backwards and forwards between the two countries.
The sea on the other side was green with great big waves and nothing but wave after wave for miles and miles, though it was rumoured that after thousands of miles there was another country, but as none on this side have ever seen it - well perhaps it may not be there at all, at all!
A boy who is called Ollie was on the plane taking his Mummy & Daddy to Ireland for a holiday to see his Grandpa & Granny and their dog Toby. It was to be a special treat for his parents as they had been ever so good to him for the past twelve months,by taking him out a weekends and running errands for him.
Ollie knew that they enjoyed going on planes for he knew that it was the quickest way of going to see Grandpa & Granny.
They flew directly to Dublin from Birmingham without having to stop on the Moon as many other planes had to when flying in from other places and planets.
Ollie had a special job to do once he got Ireland, for there was a man in the big field who owned a red tractor which was driving around and around in circles not knowing how to stop. Which is why Grandpa phoned up Ollie for his help.
It was a special help that only the two of them could do together. It involved sprinkling special dust in front of the tractor before it would stop.
Grandpa’s legs would not go fast enough to catch the tractor but he knew no one better or faster than young Ollie.
The man in the tractor was getting ever so hungry because he had been going in circles for weeks on end and had only managed to catch a few of the sandwiches that Grandpa threw at him every day. It being Ireland he wasn’t thirsty because it rained every other day and caught the rain water in a bucket and drank from it. With the remainder he was able to wash his face and clean his teeth.
Eventually Ollie’s Daddy managed to locate the car that took them to Granny & Grandpa’s very old cottage, that some people said was in the middle of nowhere; Ollie didn’t like that description very much because quite logically every where was in the middle of somewhere.
There are some very silly people about with the silliest of sayings, for as Grandpa had often said to Ollie "why even the fairies know where we live."
Granny too agreed with this sentiment for she like Grandpa was on very good terms with the Fairies. Granny was also friends with the old Wizard who lived beneath an Ash tree just along the road from them, in a large house that was bigger and older than where Granny & Grandpa lived.
The Wizard’s house had stone stairs and low doorways. His customary greeting to the callers that he liked was ‘Mind your heads!’.
To those he didn’t like, no warning was given and when they banged their heads he would spin them around to point them in the other direction. And so they would find themselves back at home. Such was the strength of his Magic.
Granny had been to visit the Wizard to get from him the Special Dust that Ollie was to sprinkle in front of the tractors wheels to stop the engine.
There were of course careful instructions on how this was to be done, of what to carry the powder in, for it could not be anything made of metal nor could it be made of cloth. Only an earthenware bowl that had been washed in the moonlight, licked by Toby and blessed by the chief Fairy would do the job. And only Granny could carry the bowl while Ollie, using a spoon made of green holly, sprinkled the potent dust in front of the tractor wheels at noon.
Soon Ollie and Granny had done their jobs exactly to the Wizards' instructions. The tractor stopped and Grandpa helped the man down off the tractor and took him home in a wheel barrow for the poor man was totally exhausted.
He slept soundly in his bed for nine days waking only each morning as the cock crowed and then went back to sleep again. On the ninth day he awoke had his stir-about ( porridge) for breakfast and cycled on his bike to Granny & Grandpa’s cottage, where he found Ollie and gave him a big shiny red tractor all of his own.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
NATIONAL POETRY DAY 2014
On October 2nd I gave an hour long poetry reading to a group of sixteen year old students from St Brendan's Community School in the library at Birr in celebration of the National Poetry Day.
So to get them in the mood I asked them to close their eyes as I read
"A dream is an early morning tide
softly gentle waves caress,
the slopes of a slumbering mind.
As rolling pebbles
call memories ashore."
A discussion followed about the images which the words evoked and in such a way the rest of the session was conducted.
As a preparation for the occasion I had asked them to translate the first verse of the poem by Dónall Ó Conchúir, (Donal O'Connor 1847-1930), 'Dhá Chích Danann', in order for them to understand the background to my own poem.
'Dhá Chích Danann' -
"Maidin bhreá Fhómair dom cops mórshruth na méithbhreac
I gcoill chluthair cheolmhair is gan leoithne sna spéarthaibh,
An lon dubh is an smóilin go beolbhinn ar séideah,
Gach fás crainn go leor ann cnó buí in a slaodaibh.
Ag dearcadh whom tharam be thaitneamhach limo
Ar Dhá Chích Danann ag amharc anon
Is síbhrat na maidne leabhar leata os a gcionn,
Chomh bleachmhar buan bláfar, chomh hálainn óghchruth."
Translation 'The Breasts of Danu' -
"One beautiful morning beside the great stream of the fertile plain
In a cosy musical wood not a breeze in the sky
The blackbird and the thrush piping sweetly,
Every growing tree there hanging ripe with nuts.
Looking around me it delighted me
The two breasts of Danann
The mysterious fairy mist over them,
As beautiful as the top of the milk that nurtures the child
(As if they were created by God ?)"
Their translation was as perfect as the one that a friendly monk had done for me as he pored over each word and phrase using Dineen's dictionary. That particular dictionary, which covers the nuances of every Irish word, would make a blog post all of it's own - we shall see!
My own poem below describes my experience of hearing the monk's translation:
At a monastery kitchen table I sat
Listening to old Irish being translated
Clear distinct verse with hidden meanings
Spoken in soft tone like a blended prayer
Lulled, my mind by rhythm travelled
As this other language unravelled
So leaving a rich cream behind I flew
To a land where dreams weave anew
To sit with my back against She - Rowan
Who was clothed in milky lace so delicate
I inhaled deeply her fragrant blossom
A vapour that transmuted me to spirit
A wave that kisses the shores of Erin
The song of Amergin
A breath of hot air that ripens corn
Dew on Bealtaine's morn
A mist that caressed Anu's Paps
©MRL 05 - 03 - 2013
As we are approaching Winter I closed the session with "An Ode to Winter Gales".
Monday, 15 September 2014
KINNITTY, Co.Offaly
KINNITTY in Co.Offaly sits at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountains and has had a variety of names throughout the years from Cinneity, Kernittys, Killenitty and the Irish Cinneitigh.
Today in Irish the name is spelt Cionn Eitigh, meaning either the head or hermitage of Etech or Eitigh (St. Ita), who also gave her name to the neighbouring parish of Ettagh.
One of the first notable things about Kinnitty is the very wide streets and it would be easy to believe that they were recently constructed until you see the age of the buildings which border them. The village consisted of five houses at the end of the eighteenth century and had grown to ninety-six dwellings by 1841.
The Green
The Bernard family who were the estate owners built the RC Chapel circa 1841. They offered the then parish priest Fr. Delaney a house for himself and his successors and 10 acres of land if he would let them build a chapel at their own expense. Fr. Delaney refused but the Bernards went ahead anyway and the bishop compelled him to use the chapel.
This picturesque chapel now hosts a great many weddings, with many of the wedding breakfasts being held in either Giltrapp's, The Slieve Bloom Bar or The Kinnitty Castle Hotel.
I wonder if the pump is dry too ?
A dry summer has almost dried up this river
A great pub for a good pint of Guinness !
I have always admired the four foliate heads above doorway
You might think from looking at the window that this is just a gift shop,
well you would be wrong for it sells groceries, bread, butter and ice-cream.
The Kinnitty Pyramid, the only one of its kind in Ireland, is situated in the graveyard of the Church of Ireland. It stands 30 feet in height and was built as a crypt by Lt. Col Richard Wesley Bernard for his family on his return from Egypt in the mid 1800's.
It is an exact replica of the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt.
The pyramid was completed in 1834 and it is now permanently sealed by 3 inch thick doors
made from steel which lead down to the interior. The tomb holds 6 coffins belonging to the Bernards of Kinnity Castle with the last burial taking place in 1907.
Other places to rest your head
We often stop at Kinnitty on our way home from Birr with our weekly shopping as it is such an attractive, tidy and friendly village. For me it represents many of the Irish towns and villages across the island and is a place we never get tired of visiting.
Sunday, 7 September 2014
AN INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND
THE CASE FOR INDEPENDENCE IN FIVE POINTS
1Scotland is a country, and like any other country it deserves to get the governments it votes for. As part of the UK, that happens well under half of the time. We don’t affect the outcome of UK elections, so the rest of the UK doesn’t need our help - so why keep subjecting ourselves to governments we rejected at the ballot box?
2Scotland will be wealthier as an independent country than it will inside the UK. Even before you discuss possible savings from policy changes (like more sensible defence spending), Scotland subsidises the UK by billions of pounds every year, according to Westminster’s own figures. The longer we stay in the UK, the poorer we’ll get.
You’ll never get a UK government minister or a No campaign figure to actually say straight-out that Scotland is subsidised by the rest of the UK - give it a try if you like. Instead they’ll try to confuse the matter and change the subject by talking about things like spending and debt (see the Questions section of Chapter 2) in order to make you believe it’s true without having to directly lie to you.
Think about it this way - if Scotland was actually being subsidised by the rest of the UK, don’t you think the No camp would be shouting that fact from the rooftops every minute of every day?
3Scotland’s future is bright. Oil will last for decades yet, and we sit on the brink of a renewables bounty that could make the entire historic output of the North Sea pale into insignificance. But the UK can’t be trusted to manage it - Scotland is the only country in the world ever to discover oil and get poorer, and unlike almost every other oil-rich nation, Westminster put nothing aside for a rainy day. It also hid Scotland’s wealth from its people for 30 years.
4We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Threats that Scotland will be ejected (even temporarily) from the EU are hollow, impossible to ever put into practice. The same applies to border controls. Nobody can stop us from using the pound. No country poses a military threat to Scotland, and the only reason terrorists might attack us is because we’re part of the UK. We’ll still get to watch the BBC.
5People are sensible. At the moment, the No campaign has a vested interest in making things sound like they’d be as difficult as possible for an independent Scotland. But the day after a Yes vote, the opposite instantly becomes true - it’s then in everyone’s interest to sort everything out as quickly and cleanly as possible.
If you accept that the EU would want Scotland as a member - and it would - then nobody gains from making that process slow and complicated and awkward.
If you accept that the rUK and an independent Scotland would still be major trading partners and allies - which they would - then nobody gains from a hostile, drawn-out negotiation process.
All parties will seek the best deal, of course, but businesses and people alike want life to continue with as little disruption and upheaval as humanly possible. Nobody wins from a negative approach, and no government will cut its nose off to spite its face.
Monday, 25 August 2014
Ancient Irish Law fit for Today
20th century manuscript copy
by Margaret Maher 1996
To my mind an ancient Irish Law needs to be re-introduced and accepted on a worldwide scale as there is much to be said for its’ humanitarian qualities.
The Cáin Adomnáin (Law of Adomnáin), also known as the Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents) was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, the Dál Riatan, at the Synod of Birr in 697. It is named after its initiator, Adomnáin of Iona, ninth Abbot of Iona after St. Columba.
This set of laws were designed, among other things, to guarantee the safety and immunity of various types of non-combatants in warfare.
They provided sanctions against the killing of children, clerics, clerical students and peasants on clerical lands; against rape, against impugning the chastity of a women, prohibited women from having to take part in warfare, and more besides. Adomnáin's initiative appears to be one of the first systematic attempts to lessen the savagery of warfare.
All through my life (I was born during WW2) the senseless murder of women and children has taken place around the world. Many of these atrocities have been under the umbrella of one religion or other, as if there was some sort of virtue to be gained. There is no justification in the killing of people whether it is under the mantle of that termed judicial or not.
The taking of another life is still murder. To specifically target women and children who are non-combatants only shows up the callousness of the perpetrator.
In light of the atrocities being committed as I type, perhaps it is time for all nations to turn to the wisdom of Adomnáin.
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
HOLY THORN - A REQUEST
The Holy Thorn in all of it's glory
and as it still is in my memory,
Roy Vickerey of http://www.plant-lore.com/news/holy-thorn-update-3 is hoping to hear from people who have reminiscences or memories of visiting the Holy Thorn that once grew on Wearyall Hill, Glastonbury, Somerset.
Unlike ordinary hawthorn trees, The Glastonbury Thorn flowered twice a year, the first time in December and the second time in spring and had a great deal of lore attached to it.
Sadly it will not flower this year as it has been destroyed by vandals, hence Roy’s call for your memories please.
Below are mine:
In the 1970’s and 80’s I lived in Glastonbury in a small house that faced Wearyall Hill and every morning, whether upstairs or downstairs, the Tree was always visible to me and in my focus.
Glastonbury itself provided me with a lot of firsts in my life. It was there that I started a daily practise of transcendental meditation and where I began to compose poetry as well as sensing energies etc.
Living there one could not but absorb all of it’s myths and legends. The legend of St. Joseph of Arimathea in particular is so well steeped in the town that it is said he brought cruets of Christ’s blood with him
when he visited and that he secreted them in Chalice Well. These containers of blood are depicted in carvings on the porch of St.Benedict’s Church.
The Holy Thorn Tree on Wearyall Hill was to all who lived and visited the place evidence and proof of a living legend, a legend that told that the tree grew from St J of Arimaethea’s staff and flowered twice a year.
I often walked up there, that’s what the majority of people did for it was somewhere handy to sit in peace and muse the time away or merely just to collect one’s thoughts, without having to make the long walk to Chalice Well or to The Tor.
Probably my last visit to the Tree was in the company of the late Olivia Durdin Robertson (co-founder of The Fellowship of Isis), in August 1997 when I took part in a short Lughnasadh ritual with members of Fellowship of Isis & attendees of the Goddess Conference.
If like me, you may have lived in Glastonbury, still live there or have even been a frequent visitor, in which case please share your memories with him.
This is one way of keeping the Holy Thorn Tree in flower.
You can contact Roy via his website: http://www.plant-lore.com
All that remained after a mindless
& senseless act of destruction.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
MORALLY BANKRUPT
The title of this blog is aimed at all those who, directly or indirectly, support Zionist Israel whether financially, intellectually, militarily, politically, or socially as in ‘Friends of Israel’ or via trade links.
For example the Irish ‘Friends of Israel’ are believed to be Joanna Tuffy TD,
Ruairi Quinn TD, Leo Varadakar TD, Alan Shatter TD, Charles Flanagan TD & Senator Feargal Quinn.
In other countries similar groups of politicians exist working for the benefit of Israel, often at the expense of their own country and fellow human beings.
Prime Minister of Israel
His policies, which create genocide, were learnt at the knee of his father, Benzion who,
regarding the Palestinian people, stated:
“They won't be able to face war with us, which will include withholding food from Arab cities, preventing education, terminating electrical power and more. They won't be able to exist, and they will run away.”
A damaged Israeli boy soldier
Those left un-counselled may very well carry the scars throughout their lives.
I salute the Israelis protesting against the war, especially since dissent may subject them to death threats. A great many Jews oppose Israeli treatment of the Palestinians including six former Israeli Security Chiefs who are against the occupation of Palestine and The Holocaust Survivors who have criticised Israeli Policy Towards Palestinians.Many devoutly religious Jews oppose Zionism.
A well-known sports writer Dave Zirin tweeted:
“Israel’s actions are antithetical to everything I was taught in Hebrew School, and yet they did this in my name. Silence isn’t an option.“
That is not a truce.
A truce is when all military and incursive activity ceases.
So once again we hear the ‘double talk’ of politicians.
The humane civilised world is getting tired of hearing from the political power junkies of US & EU with their ideas of a peace that actually enforces the wilful murder of hundreds of thousands of people throughout the Middle East and the Ukraine.
We all know what these wars are really about - it is the mineral wealth that lies beneath the victims graves.
WE HAVE HEARD ENOUGH,
WE NO LONGER BELIEVE YOUR LIES,
NOW IS THE TIME TO STOP!
Sign a petition at http://www.bdsmovement.net/StopArmingIsrael
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