“They say light travels faster than anything. But they’re wrong. Darkness is faster.”

“They say light travels faster than anything. But they’re wrong. Darkness is faster.”

So here we are, May 2010.

I went to Anna Maria Island yesterday. I love Anna Maria. It’s pretty and cute and not yet too overwhelmed by chains. It’s nice to go anywhere there are a lot of mom-and-pop businesses. I think I am love with Sign of the Mermaid, and I only drove past it.

The beach: powder white sand, green water, still more houses than condos. Indian Rocks, formerly my favorite beach, has lost a lot of its out of the way feel. It’s hard to feel off the beaten path when surrounded by condos and skyrises.

It wasn’t the perfect beach day. Powder white sand, while cool and soft and pretty, is not nearly as enjoyable when it’s windy. We came home literally coated with sand. My cat, Orca, rubbed against my leg when I walked in and even she had sand in her fur after. You know it’s windy when your beach mat, which is weighted down with sandals and a beach bag, is blowing away. I ordered a salad for lunch, and bits of my spinach kept flying off.

I don’t care. I may not get to see it again before the oil hits.

The thought of these beaches being ruined makes me want to cry. Actually I did cry a little. The thought of this massive spreading blight of foulness coming towards us is a lot more vivid when one is looking at the pristine white sand and turquoise water that most people think of when they speak about paradise. It’s headed the other way now, but that isn’t a huge comfort. It will affect this area eventually.

The phrases one keeps hearing are mindboggling.

“Worse than Exxon.”

“Efforts to contain spill unsuccessful.”

“Spill may go on for months.”

The Gulf hasn’t been really healthy for a long time. All the crap that goes into all the rivers that feed the Mississippi end up in the Mississippi, which empties into the Gulf. But it wasn’t devastated. 

“Worst environmental disaster in history.” 

This is death to these waters, and to all the animals in it.

I hope the dolphins get out. They’re so smart; I keep wishing there was a way to warn them not to swim that way, to go to Cuba for a while.

I remember so many summer days sitting at Gators with a frozen drink, watching the dolphins. You can’t see a wild dolphin and not smile.

A few of us  are going to attempt a ritual to warn the dolphins. Half of me thinks this is the dumbest idea ever, and that I am nuts for doing this. Maybe I am. Maybe it’s more about feeling so helpless, and wanting to do something, anything, to help. The other half believes it might be possible. I’m really not one for ceremony, period, but I do believe in energy, and that humans and animals do have a mystical bond. Also, dolphins are really really really smart, and ‘get out’ is a clear message. It isn’t far off what the Natives practiced. Maybe there’s a reason I felt compelled to watch Whaledreamers, and found it so captivating. Most importantly, it can’t hurt to try, and maybe if enough people pool their energy, we can somehow get through to them, tell them to get out before they get caught.  

It looks like Tuesday. So for those of you who happen to fall under the less skeptical viewpoint, and/or any  animal mystics out there, sending a few thoughts at the dolphins would be a good thing. There’s not much else we can do, now.

*still wondering if this is a mad idea*

Pagan Holidays for April 2, 2010

Our Ancient Celtic Ancestors made this day sacred to Elena, their Goddess whom is also known as Helen, representing that of the Holy Road. In the King Author stories, she was named Elaine.

On this day in Egyptian Calendar, our beloved Osiris goes forth from the Mountain. And I’d like to quote something from my favorite book……

The doors of perception open; what was hidden has been revealed. It is myself I see and a thousand colors swirling in liquid light. I am where the sun sets below the mountains. I am in this body. I am that star rising above the clouds hung by a thread from its ocean moon. Hail myself traversing eternity walking among the gods, a shuttle flying across the loom through the threads of time. This is all one place, one cloth: a man’s life endures. On earth flowers grow, snakes crawl and wisdom lies in the palm of a hand. All that is will be—hawks and sparrows, the thousand lives within.

I have come home. I have entered humanhood, bound to rocks and plants, men and women, rivers and sky. I shall be with you in this and other worlds. When the cat arches in the doorway, think of me. I have sometimes been like that. When two men greet each other in the street, I am there speaking to you. When you look up, know I am there—sun and moon pouring my love around you. All these things I am, portents, images, signs. Though apart, I am a part of you. One million things in the universe, I am the universe, too. You think I disguise myself as rivers and trees simply to confuse you? Whatever I am, woman, cat or lotus,the same god breathes in every body. You and I together are a single creation. neither death nor spite nor fear nor ignorance stops my love for you.

May we come and go in and out of heaven through the gates of starlight. As the houses of earth fill with dancing and song, so filled are the houses of heaven. I com, in truth. I sail a long a river and row back again. It is joy to breathe under the stars. I am the sojourner destined to walk a thousand years until I arrive at myself.

Chapter 67 Hymn to Osiris

Awakening Osiris

The Egyptian Book of the Dead

Translated by Normandi Ellis

May you all have a magical Sunday.

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C.H. SCARLETT

www.chscarlett.net

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