whatever we do to each other

we also do to ourselves

Fire in the Head newsletter, winter solstice 2008

Greetings, writers, from the beautiful Devon winter – one repercussion of which, however, is my fractured left wrist… so for the first time in nearly 30 years I’m on slow time... and half-speed typing as I was only ever a two-finger typist.

As always, I’ve loved working with so many of you in 2008. I hope to see you again, and meet new faces, in 2009. Below is news, tasters of 2009 courses, and at the bottom an exercise to keep those imaginative processes flowing, if you can find any spare moments over the festive season.

A reminder of my January 11 annual Thresholds c ...

In case you've not yet seen this: 'In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku poetry has strict construction rules. Each poem has only three lines, 17 syllables:
five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, five in the third. Haiku are used to communicate a timeless message often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity - the essence of Zen!

To help you in these troubling computer times:

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
---------------------
The website you seek
cannot be located, but
countless more exist.
---------------------
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
---------------------
Programme abo ...

Nobel argued that a true route to peace required an approach of demilitarisation, with its attendant revisioning of our attitude to other inhabitants of this planet.

Argentinian pianist and peace campaigner Alberto Portugheis actively campaigns himself for this as he travels the world giving concerts.

Someone posted the following message on a Buddhist site to which I subscribe; Portugheis’ ideas deserve support, I think...


'A Buddhist friend, concert pianist Alberto Portugheis, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is Argentinean born, but lives in London. As he travels the world as a concert pianist, he is also campaigning: he gives concerts for peace and speaks at parliaments and assemblies wherever he can. There is a website dedicated to him...the URL is http://www.peace.orion-arts.com/  ... from across the globe there are messages of support. I understand that he received three separate ...

Dear Friends

This is close to my heart.

The Japanese whaling industry is upping its activity to begin killing humpbacks again and increasing its quotas for other great whales.  We must do all we can to say that this is deeply unacceptable behaviour and to stop it as soon as possible.

The petition to be found on the site below is one step towards achieving this:

www.whalesrevenge.com

 which is trying to get a million people to sign a petition to stop whaling.


If you could tell as many people as you can about this website, that would be a great help.

Thanks for your support and please consider signing the petition.

Thanks, in solidarity with our cetacean family members,


Roselle

We're coming up to the dark time of the year here in the northern hemisphere. It's a time when energy can withdraw inwards, and sometimes life seems only to flicker. The dark (and here in Devon the damp and drizzle!) eats up the hours of daylight and can gnaw away at trust and hope if we're feeling vulnerable (and in a world that seems to be changing fast and to be ever-more-unstable politically and environmentally it's hard not to feel oppressed by worst-case-scenarios at times).

Since samhain, or allhallows, I have found myself lighting more candles than usual. A couple of days ago I went up to my desk and booted up the computer, even though it was Sunday and even though I was trying to give myself - for once - time out (I usually either run weekend workshops or go uop to care for my parents on a Sunday).

As I watched the apple icon emerge on the screen I caught myself: apples; pips; seeds. I realised I had lost any centre and was dissipating all my en ...

Still


*

world –
how do we not love thee?
let us count the ways...
I can’t stop weeping


*


last night, moon on the hill
how many times before
have I been bird, leaf
single blade of grass?


*


  still morning comes
wingbeats fill the valley
  the tide lies again

            against the shore

In the Celtic calendar, 31 October/1 November is New Year; a midpoint between the equal day and night of the equinox and the shortest day at 21 December.

It is traditionally a liminal time, where the 'veil is thin' and the worlds overlap. So it's a time for honouring the ancestors; remembering what's past; taking note of what you need to let go of; bringing in the harvest of the year, and lighting the candles of winter.

It's a good time to make peace: with yourself, with lost friends, with current conflicts and with anyone who has died with whom you have unfinished business.

It's also a good time to look at what you want to let into your life in the future. You might find it helpful to make some notes with regard to unresolved issues, the relevance of current commitments and, says Caitlin Matthews, unhelpful patterns in your life as well as current spiritual practice (or lack of it!).

Then light candles in the windows and ...