An old man with a ukulele sings Don Henley’s Boys of Summer.
Dream Log 062721
Our friend, Dan, drove me to town for the meeting that night. We stopped to see you before it started. Your sister was there, and a friend of yours who was back home for a visit. He was clearly up to no good. He had his eyes on you.
The ceilings were high. Everything was pristine, silver, black and white. We all stood. No one was seated. Your husband wasn’t home.
You and I went to the southeast corner of the kitchen to talk. We embrace. I place my hands on the sides of your head and draw you to me like a cup. Your eyes are soft and dark and intent. Fire.
We kiss, and your pucker pulls my teeth to yours. You lock me there, teeth to teeth, vacuum and pressure. Stillness. Brainwaves drop into theta. I am falling. I am in samadhi.
Your eyes. Your eyes. Your eyes. Wherever I go in the room I glance and your eyes.
I become aware of the other people in the room. Dan has left, and I realize I have no ride home. I look for a cigarette. I find a tin box with little leftover pieces of cigarettes and they look like the Luckies that my dad smoked. I light one, and take a draw. It tastes of harsh menthol, like a Kool. Nasty. Sick. Regret.
We are in the hallways at a conference. It is morning. I avoid small talk with the others. I find a buffet station. Tiny metal strips with little circles in them – like flattened kazoos – seem like vessels for heating water for coffee.
Wait. That can’t be right.
Chanting With The Tanpura
We added a Tanpura/Swarmandal to our collection of instruments last week, so I’ve been spending a great deal of time getting it under hand, and using it in my daily meditation practice. It works really well for japa with shorter mantras.
I’m hoping to make it through 108 Gayatri repetitions during this month’s Key City Kirtan gathering.
Humanitarian Aid Opportunities
As we watch the COVID 19 crisis unfold in India, and the horrors being inflicted in Palestine, it can be difficult to maintain equanimity or hope. More than ever, in such times, I find it crucial to focus on whatever we can do – however insignificant it may seem – to offer our help.
Here are some charitable organizations that one might consider.
For Palestine
https://www.zakat.org/get-involved/palestine-siege
https://uhr.givecloud.co/gaza-emergency-campaign
https://irusa.org/middle-east/palestine/
For India
https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/ManavSadhnaforCovid
https://punarnavacommunity.org/covid-19-relief-support/
https://thedesaifoundation.org/
Please help if you can.
larry hart
you were as witty
and urbane
as cole porter
and ten times as cynical
i was reading
schopenhauer
last night
zip
i’m a heterosexual
i wish i could have found you
wandering the streets
of the city
drunk
soaked
bewitched, bothered and bewildered
before the pneumonia took hold
and your book ended
Quick Links
I thought I should pin some links to the top here for people who arrive at this site from my Instagram.
Here is the Tarot site: Cards of Light
Our community Kirtan site is here: Key City Kirtan
My site about spiritual practices is here: Shyamatara Das
You can find additional links up in the main navigation.
Thanks!
Unfaithful to the Gospel
Each time I think that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops have gotten to the point where there isn’t much they can do that would surprise me or disappoint me, they find a way to do it.
When obsessions with language and semantics around gender and sexuality causes a group to oppose funding for suicide prevention, prevention of violence against women, and protection for all against discrimination, they have departed from any semblance of being “True to the Gospel” or “pro-life.”
I have to remind myself that the Bishops, although meant to be shepherds of the Church, are not the Church itself. So, it is not accurate to say that “the Catholic Church opposes” equality. Nevertheless, it is troubling to remain in communion with a body which seems to be led by bigots.
Kali Durge Namo Namah
I went live on Facebook to share one of the chants that we’ll sing on Friday Evening’s Key City Kirtan.
The event is free and open to the public, but you do have to register in advance. Here’s the link for that.
https://www.alignlightyoga.com/event-details/key-city-kirtan-kankakee-bhakti-gathering-6
Come join us!
On the Communion of Saints
“Together the living form with the dead one community of memory and hope, a holy people touched with the fire of the Spirit, summoned to go forth as companions bringing the face of divine compassion into everyday life and the great struggles of history, wrestling with evil, and delighting even now when fragments of justice, peace, and healing gain however small a foothold. When they are seen together with the whole natural world as a dynamic, sacred community of the most amazing richness and complexity, then the symbol of the communion of saints reaches its fullness as a symbol of effective presence and action of Holy Wisdom herself.”
– Elizabeth Johnson
Ritual and Tarot
Over on my Tarot blog, I wrote about how to get the most from your Tarot practice by establishing a routine for your readings.
As far as I am concerned, this moment to get still and get in touch with one’s intuition is second only to a thorough shuffle as the basis for a good experience with the cards. The stimulus of a random card, as interpreted by a quiet, intuitive mind, is the very nature of my practice.
Read More: A Simple Tarot Ritual | Cards of Light