Category Archives: Ritual Year

Quote from Etty Hillesum and Synchronicity

“People sometimes say, ‘you must try to make the best of things.’  I find this such a feeble thing to say.  Everywhere things are both very good and very bad at the same time.  The two are in balance, everywhere … Continue reading

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Real Life is Bigger than Happiness

From Ritual Year, written in May of 1993 May 13    Real life is bigger than happiness I was visited by an odd image which seemed to express my current state of soul:  The body of a woman lying in … Continue reading

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“Blazing and Storm-shattered Maples”

Going back to what I wrote in June 1996, I saw the phrase “blazing and storm-shattered maples” and it reminded me of what I had written at that time. It was a powerful writing and a powerful learning that I … Continue reading

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Pressure to “Prove that I Deserve to Live”

I’ve been reading through my journal from the beginning.  These two entries really impressed me as describing a dynamic which I have been coming to know well.  I have called it “keeping going through a blizzard” and “false urgency.”  It … Continue reading

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Looking at Jenny from Outside

I have been struggling with the question of whether I “love” life.  It’s something Stephen Jenkinson talks about, something that can become very strong when you realize that you are really going to die.  I hear people say they love … Continue reading

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Two Whole Weeks of Terror, February 1971

from my journal.  entries are undated.  A lot of this is in a post from January 2016 how calmly does the olive branch observe the sky begin to blanch without a cry, without a prayer with no betrayal of despair…  … Continue reading

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May 1993: Real Life is Bigger than Happiness

(Written in May 1993)May 13    Real life is bigger than happiness I was visited by an odd image which seemed to express my current state of soul:  The body of a woman lying in the grass near blossoming apple trees, … Continue reading

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July 1975: Long Buried Treasures

(From Ritual Year, written in July 1975) For tapestry class, I retrieved an old sketch pad from Biddeford Pool, and unearthed long buried treasures: the Hieroglyphic journey, mandalas from California, perhaps from the first return to Maine?  I wish I … Continue reading

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June 1992: The Tale of the Disguised Princess and the Ruby

(This is one of my favorites.  Done in writers’ group in June 1992 while listening to gamelan music) Balinese music conjures up a bazaar — silk saris and brass teapots and huge masks carved out of wood and painted brilliant … Continue reading

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July 1992: The Journal is a Safe Space

(Another entry from Ritual Year, written July 1992) Vision.  I always forget, when making visions, that the inner reality is much more important than the outer one.  In some ways it’s much easier to create a vision of a completed … Continue reading

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