This being human is a guest house.Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness,some momentary awareness comesas an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all!Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,who violently sweep your houseempty of its furniture,still, treat each guest honorably.He may be clearing you outfor some new delight. The dark…
Continue reading ➞ This being human is a guest house
A Kraken is a mythical behemoth. A man-eating and fearsome gigantic cephalopod that drove fear into the hearts of sea-going Scandanavians. The word kraken comes from the Swedish word “krake”, which means twisted. Seen traditionally as a beast to be feared and respected, it also embodied a sense of deep oceanic magic and mystery. Kraken…
These delicate patterns are most visible in autumn as decay befalls the forest floor and the wind crumbles away the leaf litter leaving behind the frail leaf filigree, a ghost echo of summer’s full flush.
Kawaakari (Japanese) The glow of a river or stream in darkness or dusk, the gleaming surface of a shadowed river (Japanese 川明かり). Kawaakari can refer to the reflection of the moonlight off flowing water, or the gleam of late sun at dusk. Obumbro (Latin) To shadow over and over: to make dark with shadow; to…
Although similar to the gloaming, grimmelings is a slightly different natural phenomenon at both ends of the rotating sun's traverse across the sky. Grimmelings - The first or last gleams of the day (Scots, esp. Orkney). From the Norwegian "grimla", to glimmer before the eyes, to twinkle or blink. Also "grimlins". Or “the harlot’s hour”:…
The Japanese word, “Tsundoku", which literally means "reading pile", dates back all the way to the Meiji era (1868-1912). It's a unique word for which there is no English equivalent. If you're an avid reader though, you will well understand that feeling...it's pure happiness, the feeling of knowing that you have many more books ready…
On an old shore, the vulgar ocean rolls Noiselessly, noiselessly, resembling a thin bird, That thinks of settling, yet never settles, on a nest. The wings keep spreading and yet are never wings. The claws keep scratching on the shale, the shallow shale, The sounding shallow, until by water washed away. The generations of the…
Japan has a long history of jisei, or death poems. Jisei is the “farewell poem to life.” These poems were written by literate people, often monks, royalty or courtiers just before their death. A Jisei from Prince Otsu in 686 BC is one of the earliest recorded death poems. Not all death poems are written…
Continue reading ➞ Jisei: Haunting Japanese death poems from history
Whelm originates from Old English and it means to overturn or capsize a hollow vessel (a boat, a heart); to bury by wave, flood, storm, avalanche. The etymology is from the Old English hwelfan, to 'upheave'. This explains the modern use of "overwhelmed" and "underwhelmed". No voice divine the storm allay'd, No light propitious shone;…
Every picture tells a story: Into the unknowable
Today's ancient word of the day is vernation. This is the genesis of new leaves sprouting during springtime. This is the arrangement of the buds as they erupt forth into the world.
One of my favourite films of all time is the Wim Wenders film The Wings of Desire known in German as Der Himmel uber Berlin. It won the Best Film at Cannes in 1987. Some of the magic of this film comes from the music (Nick Cave, U2), the acting (Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin) and…
Continue reading ➞ Poetry and music from the film ‘Wings of Desire’ (Der Himmel uber Berlin)
Landschapspijn comes from Dutch and translates to “landscape-pain”, “place-pain” (Dutch). This is a word with no real equivalent in English.
Hy Brasil is a mysterious phantom island that was thought to exist off the west coast of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean for hundreds of years. The area being nautically challenging for seafarers, it was an elusive and mysterious place, hailed in pre-Christian times as being the Celtic Elysium or land of promise. During Christian…
Continue reading ➞ The ancient and elusive fairisle of Hy Brasil
In November 2016, the singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, renowned for his melancholic and romantic ballads, died a few months after the woman who inspired many of his famous songs - his Norwegian lover and muse, Marianne Ihlen. On the summery idyll of Hydra, Greece in 1960, there was a bohemian community of artists and musicians living…
Continue reading ➞ So long, Marianne: Leonard Cohen and his muse Marianne Ihlen
If you ever go to Edinburgh and find yourself in one of its countless excellent pubs, you may want to strike up a conversation with one of the grave looking, old guys at the bar drinking pints. If so, you will want to be able to hold a conversation while also not making a fanny…
Continue reading ➞ Travel: A Survival Guide to Edinburgh Slang and Scots Words
The moment I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere They’re in each other all along. -Rumi
Anna Świrszczyńska, also known as Anna Swir wrote poems in direct, evocative language that spoke passionately and directly to the heart. She wrote affectionately about the female body, love, pain, loneliness, terror, war, childbirth, child-rearing and the passing of time. She focused a lot on the flesh - its elasticity and potential while young, along…
Continue reading ➞ The Sensual World of Polish Poet Anna Świrszczyńska
“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.” – Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou has been one of the most influential literary voices of our time. Born in 1928 she has been in turns a poet, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, historian, film-maker and civil rights activist. She worked for Malcolm X…
Continue reading ➞ Ten Life Lessons We Can Learn From Maya Angelou
On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!– I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest. In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!– In darkness and in concealment, My house being now at rest. In the happy night, In secret, when none saw me,…
