Have you ever seen the film 'The Princess Kaguya' (Studio Ghibli)....not necessarily a children's film. It is a must see----based on an 8th c. tale from the Heien period and a story the Ghibli people wanted to do for a long time. Worth the wait though (14 years); supposedly their swansong.....the writer of the story has died at the age of 81 and the art director is in his 80's as well. The music in particular is haunting......
Your posts are enchanting BTW......Fenist Bright Falcon was a tear-jerker for me.
Thanks for the tip on the Poguemahone audiobook, Martin. Took the dive. Gonna make the week of stair building on the job sweet. I have already had his image of lepers with wings of eagles sweeping over a world of fire crated and marked as a keeper in the eye's hold.
Fantastic stuff here, Martin. Thank you for compiling and sharing these fragments I can shore against my ruins. Is there an audiobook of Stag Cult in the works?
Pádraig Mac Cába— of MacLeòid and the Gallowglass, perhaps even Dal Riada before them? An Hebridean warrior…
And thank you again for these bits and pieces of the greater, of which we are all a part.
One of the many things Jesus did well and modeled well in intimacy, humility and vulnerability…And so we talk story, it is its own kind of poetry. Perhaps herein salvation of ourselves and the planet too.
And now I’m thinking too of another Pádraig, that O’Tuama fellow, you know, the poet and teller too.
As much as I appreciate and support what you and Paul do, the combination of nature mysticism and Christ and monastic spirituality and ecclesiastical ritual sticks in my craw. It seems to me to be an elitist experience available to only the privileged. Of which I am one. If you had your summer retreat in July instead of August I may have traveled from here in California to England to join in. I also occasionally attend traditional Anglican liturgy and revel in the beauty of creation. So I am speaking as somewhat of a hypocrite.
Jesus merely said to go in your room and pray to your Father who is there in secret. In fact the go aside, close the door, room thing is optional and the Father is still there. The only real description we have available of how church was done in the first years of Christianity outside of Jerusalem is in 1 & 2 Corinthians which show the combination of the sublime presence of the Spirit with the weakness and absurdity and incomplete goodness of the human condition which is inevitable in this world. This is a wild Christianity that is applicable in all situations and places. Jesus practiced it in agony upon the cross, naked with no privacy in the grip of the world system machine of that time. crying out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”.
Speaking of wild Christianity in action today consider the expansion of Protestant Christianity in China . In 1950 1,000,000, now at least 40,000,000 and quite possibly far more. To the point where the Chinese communist party feels threatened. Hardly any Orthodox, maybe 15,00 believers. It says in the NT “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” So apparently the Holy Spirit jumped the rails in China and went rogue away from the true church.
I meant to thank you and share that I enjoyed some wonderful belly laughs thanks to the bit about the self authored erotic writing hidden under the mattress and the hair like a broccoli top. So funny.
Thank for again gifting us with readings and wisdom. The House of Beasts and Vines is my weekly 'must go to'.
I noticed the Illich/Cayley book 'Rivers North... '
Just in case you are curious, here is a link to Caley's site to a page listing Caley/Illich broadcasts/podcasts, including five part CBC radio series called 'The Corruption of Christianity' created from the interviews in 'Rivers North of the Future' You may enjoy hearing Illich's voice and Cayley's commentary.
The link is via a Google search which makes it orderly... but if you search Illich internally on Caley's site, you will find more articles and references.
Can I get a link the the mentioned Bog people book?
In reference to your third audio.
The phrase you used “starting to remember what you stand for...”
In relation to school and it’s adverse affects on imagination.
I’ve felt that similar feeling happening throughout my motherhood. Like I had a vision for who I wanted to be as mother. Then rubber hitting the road also slapped me into the reality I had no teacher for how to be the mother I wanted to be (or the mother I also needed for myself).
But in a rapid survival fashion I began to seek out education- mother google as I’ve jokingly called it to my friends. It makes me cringe but I used google to teach myself basics in child rearing- and those habits would often not lead to the results of the mother I envisioned. Zapping my intuition or creative knowing with my children- or making fear where there need not be.
I needed a softer touch, hand to the back, voice in my ear- you’re doing fine dear. Not the blue light mother who is only giving me distance from my deeper knowing.
Anywho- I think, we’ll hope, now I’m 3 kids deep I am in a fashion beginning to find and move toward who I want to be as mother. Now is the wrestling and settling with the knowledge that I will be what my children’s generation may know as a representation of that word itself.
May we mothers remember what we stand for and that alignment be wildly good.
I’m thankful for your writing. You’ve become the good uncle for the road I’m on.
Well, well, well...I watched Dersu Azala yesterday and loved it! One of those movies you never forget, thanks for mentioning it at the Totnes storytelling.
I realised aswell that listening to you, is a form of self care that began during lockdown. Your words at the end of one video 'courage and lots and lots of love' landed like magic and worked!
Oh, thank you for last week's final part of Job too, my heart went out to him truly. I felt oddly comforted by his awful suffering, strange as that feels to admit it (or maybe that's the point, I don't know). Either way, I was happy to hear there was a good ending to it all which again gave me comfort and hope.
Nice to imagine you sitting there, cosy by the fire in that splenderous chair, what a beauty! Enjoyed your Irish man's sharing too, you have some fascinating friends.
Sunday Stories: Vasya Whitefeet
Have you ever seen the film 'The Princess Kaguya' (Studio Ghibli)....not necessarily a children's film. It is a must see----based on an 8th c. tale from the Heien period and a story the Ghibli people wanted to do for a long time. Worth the wait though (14 years); supposedly their swansong.....the writer of the story has died at the age of 81 and the art director is in his 80's as well. The music in particular is haunting......
Your posts are enchanting BTW......Fenist Bright Falcon was a tear-jerker for me.
Thanks for the tip on the Poguemahone audiobook, Martin. Took the dive. Gonna make the week of stair building on the job sweet. I have already had his image of lepers with wings of eagles sweeping over a world of fire crated and marked as a keeper in the eye's hold.
Fantastic stuff here, Martin. Thank you for compiling and sharing these fragments I can shore against my ruins. Is there an audiobook of Stag Cult in the works?
A wonderful and generous mixture this Sunday, which I have thoroughly enjoyed whilst cooking.
I often come back to listen to your offerings again and again. Thanks you Martin.
I must say, I love the comfy chair and blanket looked over by beloved Dylan.
Looking forward to this feast! So enjoy the Sunday stories.
Pádraig Mac Cába— of MacLeòid and the Gallowglass, perhaps even Dal Riada before them? An Hebridean warrior…
And thank you again for these bits and pieces of the greater, of which we are all a part.
One of the many things Jesus did well and modeled well in intimacy, humility and vulnerability…And so we talk story, it is its own kind of poetry. Perhaps herein salvation of ourselves and the planet too.
And now I’m thinking too of another Pádraig, that O’Tuama fellow, you know, the poet and teller too.
Pádraig aka anonemoose monk }:- a.m.
As much as I appreciate and support what you and Paul do, the combination of nature mysticism and Christ and monastic spirituality and ecclesiastical ritual sticks in my craw. It seems to me to be an elitist experience available to only the privileged. Of which I am one. If you had your summer retreat in July instead of August I may have traveled from here in California to England to join in. I also occasionally attend traditional Anglican liturgy and revel in the beauty of creation. So I am speaking as somewhat of a hypocrite.
Jesus merely said to go in your room and pray to your Father who is there in secret. In fact the go aside, close the door, room thing is optional and the Father is still there. The only real description we have available of how church was done in the first years of Christianity outside of Jerusalem is in 1 & 2 Corinthians which show the combination of the sublime presence of the Spirit with the weakness and absurdity and incomplete goodness of the human condition which is inevitable in this world. This is a wild Christianity that is applicable in all situations and places. Jesus practiced it in agony upon the cross, naked with no privacy in the grip of the world system machine of that time. crying out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”.
Speaking of wild Christianity in action today consider the expansion of Protestant Christianity in China . In 1950 1,000,000, now at least 40,000,000 and quite possibly far more. To the point where the Chinese communist party feels threatened. Hardly any Orthodox, maybe 15,00 believers. It says in the NT “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” So apparently the Holy Spirit jumped the rails in China and went rogue away from the true church.
Martin,
I meant to thank you and share that I enjoyed some wonderful belly laughs thanks to the bit about the self authored erotic writing hidden under the mattress and the hair like a broccoli top. So funny.
Thank for again gifting us with readings and wisdom. The House of Beasts and Vines is my weekly 'must go to'.
I noticed the Illich/Cayley book 'Rivers North... '
Just in case you are curious, here is a link to Caley's site to a page listing Caley/Illich broadcasts/podcasts, including five part CBC radio series called 'The Corruption of Christianity' created from the interviews in 'Rivers North of the Future' You may enjoy hearing Illich's voice and Cayley's commentary.
The link is via a Google search which makes it orderly... but if you search Illich internally on Caley's site, you will find more articles and references.
Not to oblige... only in case you would enjoy.
https://www.davidcayley.com/podcasts?offset=1415295600390&reversePaginate=true&category=Ivan+Illich
Can I get a link the the mentioned Bog people book?
In reference to your third audio.
The phrase you used “starting to remember what you stand for...”
In relation to school and it’s adverse affects on imagination.
I’ve felt that similar feeling happening throughout my motherhood. Like I had a vision for who I wanted to be as mother. Then rubber hitting the road also slapped me into the reality I had no teacher for how to be the mother I wanted to be (or the mother I also needed for myself).
But in a rapid survival fashion I began to seek out education- mother google as I’ve jokingly called it to my friends. It makes me cringe but I used google to teach myself basics in child rearing- and those habits would often not lead to the results of the mother I envisioned. Zapping my intuition or creative knowing with my children- or making fear where there need not be.
I needed a softer touch, hand to the back, voice in my ear- you’re doing fine dear. Not the blue light mother who is only giving me distance from my deeper knowing.
Anywho- I think, we’ll hope, now I’m 3 kids deep I am in a fashion beginning to find and move toward who I want to be as mother. Now is the wrestling and settling with the knowledge that I will be what my children’s generation may know as a representation of that word itself.
May we mothers remember what we stand for and that alignment be wildly good.
I’m thankful for your writing. You’ve become the good uncle for the road I’m on.
Well, well, well...I watched Dersu Azala yesterday and loved it! One of those movies you never forget, thanks for mentioning it at the Totnes storytelling.
I realised aswell that listening to you, is a form of self care that began during lockdown. Your words at the end of one video 'courage and lots and lots of love' landed like magic and worked!
Oh, thank you for last week's final part of Job too, my heart went out to him truly. I felt oddly comforted by his awful suffering, strange as that feels to admit it (or maybe that's the point, I don't know). Either way, I was happy to hear there was a good ending to it all which again gave me comfort and hope.
Nice to imagine you sitting there, cosy by the fire in that splenderous chair, what a beauty! Enjoyed your Irish man's sharing too, you have some fascinating friends.
Indeed, I believe their stellar conjunction would be a sparkling blessing on all?