Mabh Savage
Words and the world passing by; how it sings to me; how I clamour back.
Winter Wonder Winner!
Now that’s a mouthful isn’t it! I’ve just been reading back through the Winter Wonder entries and they are all so beautiful and heartfelt in their own way, I was actually sad to have to pick a winner. However, that’s what I promised, so here we go…drum roll please…and the winner is…
Well done Mr West, you win a signed copy of my book to read on cozy afternoons while it’s too cold to go anywhere. Drop me a line and I’ll arrange to have it sent to you. If readers want to read this piece again click Here.
Thank you so, so much to everyone who has contributed. I hope to run a similar series, possibly another competition too, as the season warms up, so watch this space.
Sláinte!
Will God let us be friends?
Someone on tumblr asked if people of different religions could be friends. Here is my response:
I’m not sure that any of my friends have exactly the same religion. Even many of my Christian and Muslim friends argue (good naturedly) about different teachings, and the pagan ones, well, it’s very unusual to find two exactly alike. I think faith and religion is very personal. You might start from a big, structured point of view, but if you really are religious, it becomes altered to fit in with your life, your views and your personal beliefs. So yes, of course you can be friends of someone of a different religion. Because everybody, absolutely everybody, is.
Imbolc Photos 2014
Click Here to see photos from Imbolc 2014.
The Things that People Say
He says you are one of a kind
I frown and agree
He frowns and looks away
The words are the same
But on very different pages.
She says you’re the most together
Person that I know
I laugh and table slap
She’s shaking her head
Reading the epilogue slowly.
Doctor says try these tablets then
I frown and agree
She smiles and looks away
Work is done today
False gratitude on my dry lips.
Work says no underlying cause
I could get better
I frown and scan the floor
Like this is my fault
Like I wouldn’t flip that ‘off’ switch.
She says I know just how you feel
I hope that you don’t
Hope you don’t feel crippled
By your mind alone
By your own lapsing, leaking brain.
He says you are one of a kind,
Struggling with this
Depressed and so anxious
I really am, I feel
One of a kind, only, alone.
Mabh Savage 2013
Review of A Modern Celt by Laura Perry
Laura Perry took the time out to review my book, A Modern Celt. Have a look what she thought here…
Winter Wonder: Final day!
Today is the start of the new lunar month, the beginning of the Chinese Year (the year of the Horse and the element of Wood) and of course as we move into the weekend we approach Imbolc. Imbolc celebrates the first stirrings of spring, and the desire to sweep the winter away, so with those thoughts in mind I am drawing my Winter Wonder series to a cheerful close, with some beautiful pictures and a lovely poem by Laura Perry, author of Ariadne’s Web.
Thanks to every one who has submitted work for this series, it’s been amazing to see the range of styles and the different ways that winter inspires us. I will choose a winner over the weekend and announce it next week. Good luck, and have a wonderful Imbolc, new year, spring festival or just have a cracking weekend!
Winter
Winter Wonder: Winter Kingdom
Thank you to Lorna Smithers for today’s beautiful Winter Wonder. Submissions will end this Friday, 31st of January, as I get ready to go away for Imbolc. If you would like to submit a piece of writing, poetry, prose or even a picture that encapsulates your thoughts on winter, please click here. My favourite will win a signed copy of my book, A Modern Celt.
Winter Kingdom
As I make my circuit stars hold vigil in an icy breath.
Roses of Annwn bring beauty from death.
Wintering starlings spotted with snow
sleep in a tree that nobody knows.
There is a courtship of stability in this kingdom of cold
where we re-knit the bonds as dream unfolds
in shadows of farmhouses down the witch’s path
through old stony gates in footsteps of the past
to the healing well where a serpent’s eye
sees through the layers of time’s disguise.
A procession sways down the old corpse road
where the lych gate swings open and closes alone.
From the empty church bells resound.
Reasserting its place on the abandoned mound
a castle extends to the brink of the sky.
Within its dark memory a fire comes to life.
As warriors gather to warm their cold hands
I know I am a stranger in a strange land.
(c) Lorna Smithers 2014
Picture credit in image.
The Journey by Luke Eastwood
The Journey by Luke Eastwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It has long been said that good things come in small packages, and this delightful 69 page volume is no exception. The Journey is a collection of wisdom that is relevant to anyone, on any spiritual or religious path; even an atheist would find reassurance here, I think.
Luke has split his volume into two halves; The Hidden Path, and Master and Pupil. The book is a combination of Luke’s own observations with quotes from religious or spiritual figureheads throughout the ages, and some proverbs and sayings.
The first section, The Hidden Path, tries to shed some light on where that path may be found. Luke’s own words lend clarity to quotes by riddlers such as Ghandi and Li Bai; not that they are nonsensical, but Luke has a way of taking the metaphor and making it relevant for our modern age. He explores different aspects of our society, from the way we view our own bodies, to the meaning of civilisation itself. One of my favourite thoughts is upon Atlantis; the idea that the sinking of Atlantis is a metaphor for the civilisations lost over the millennia; perfect.
In the second part of the book, Master and Pupil, it’s as if we have found the path, and now we need to think about what we do while we’re on it. Luke promotes the cycle of learning, from experienced elder to novice and on again as soon as the novice becomes the master. He speaks of ways to avoid indoctrination and why the supernatural may actually be, well, natural. There is talk of prayer and its power, opening one’s 3rd eye, and the futility of material possessions.
Each small section is like a tiny gem, the words gleaming out of the paper. The style is easy going while retaining a passion for the subject at hand. There is no judgement, no religious preference and no snobbery; this book is talking about the universe and everyone in it, and at the same time it is talking about just you, and you alone.
One of the Chinese proverbs he uses is
‘Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.’
This book can certainly open doors, and I would heartily recommend that you enter.
Mabh Savage 