There is a madness rising in the world.
I feel it quite severely.
Seek sanctuary in the sacred…your life, your family, your friends…but especially your home, Mother Earth. I hope against hope to keep beauty alive in this little place.
Politicians drag their overblown egos to parliamentary podiums to huff and puff their cursed words of war .
There is nothing to stop their vile spewing of death and revenge, for our media is the dog that laps at the floor!
In a desperate attempt at solace, I turned into the pages of a book.
I was in search of inspiration, any small morsel of comfort, or even defiance.
I picked up an old poetry book of mine and randomly opened it to find Yeats and this…
The Second Coming was penned in the stunned aftermath of WWI.
This time, I fear it takes the place of a prologue… for what lies ahead.
THE SECOND COMING
  Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Thank you for the wonderful photos (as always) and the Yeats. Someone here quoted this recently, at the conference on the rights of the earth.
I was watching the wonderful Vandana Shiva in Paris…and you’re there too! If you meet her, tell her she is my absolute hero!
Thoughts that come to my mind is that the birthing is the most chaotic, the most unbearable, just before the delivery. I’ve given birth three times and escorted three others into the world (all with no numbing anesthesia), and that holds true each time. Our mother is in labor. That is my feeling. And the chaos we see right now is symptomatic of the stage just before the push begins. As a doula, my role is to stay positive and attentive, and give the focus that helps the Mother through this difficult time. I think the same can be done for our Mother Earth in whatever creative ways we can manage.
Thank you Madison…words of wisdom and serenity, much welcomed. Blessings X
There is light in the world, and we are it. I have the same sense, and refuse to give in to fear. Nature guides me. Just got word the military is turning the Olympic Peninsula into an electromagnetic warfare training ground. Darkened Men are fearful and they are lashing out in the only fear based testosterone way they know – brutality. Sometimes we visit Zero Hedge to find relief in humor when a comment gets posted with a vary un-PC mention of ‘full retard’ – rough words to be sure, but we take what we can get while we plant trees, repair the roof and watch.
My heart is strong, my love for others and the earth courageous and my potty mouth suggests that tourettes is surely welcome on our property.
Blessings Sheila…I read your words aloud, for they are filled with good energy and forbearance.
Like Penny Woodfall commented – there is a sense of foreboding and fear but we must not give in to these feelings, we have to be the light as much as we can. To paraphrase Martin Luther King – the darkness cannot dispel the darkness, only light can do that. It turns my stomach to see Simon Coveney, lap dog of the Bilderburgers agreeing to turn Ireland into a weapons test ground and rushing to be the first minister to agree to support a war. How egos can bring about so much destruction!!! But I find comfort in thinking about the fact that I see all the comments here and on other social media that prove that the People are not blood thirsty egotists and murderers; I can walk down a street in London (when I visit) and pass English, Irish, Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, Protestants, people of all nationalities and religious beliefs and we all just go about our daily business without killing each other. The People are ok – it’s just the damned politicians!!!!!
Again…I read your words aloud to hear a positive voice. Bless you Terri.
I have been reading John O’Donohue of late….troubled dreams and sleepless night a sense of foreboding as you describe have haunted me for awhile now…..difficult times that you cannot deny…a comforting post..go raibh maith agat x
Where would I be without you and the many other great beings on this site…Bless you Pennie.
Beautiful images and beautiful words. Thank you. X
Blessings dear Martin X
Love to you, Colette! I often hear this poem, too. If you’ve not seen this recent Vandana Shiva video, I think you’ll appreciate her words and also her strength: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr_Rkdc5ghk I thought of you when I came across her message yesterday. Hugs and love, Laura
Thanks for posting the link. I had posted it on FB and Twitter as well as watching it several times and will continues to watch as her message is vital to understanding how things are falling into place. I will have to take time to digest events and ponder. Blessings X
Namaste