Sunday, 21 February 2010

Fairies, astrology and geology

Well here I am week two and still struggling with the techno stuff. I think I've mastered how to post a picture but the video is still a bit beyond me. However the good news! No more bald spots. I'm still finding Calvino and Kundera confusing but I think perhaps that is the point. I'm reading Calvino and just as I think I get where he is going, off he goes chasing another strand. He's been talking about fairies, folklore, astrology and all things between. He talked about his star sign being a force behind his writing and creativity. Naturally I had to check mine out. So first I got my birth chart done. One of the questions asked is, what time were you born? So naturally I asked my Mother. Her answer, "I don't know after eight days and nights in labour and a caesarean I didn't care." So I put don't know as they didn't have a box for mother too knackered to notice. My star sign is Sagittarius, half horse half man (that probably accounts for my hind quarters) and my element is Fire. My birthstones are Tanzanite a blue/purple mineral - Zircon (a bit like diamond but not as expensive) and Turquoise which is the most interesting and the oldest of the known gem materials. It is thought to have powerful metaphysical properties and is also used by such ancient societies as the Apache Indians and Ancient Egyptians. I must say for myself it is Turquoise that I've the strongest connection with as there is something that draws me to it. I love the colour purple so that is where my Tanzanite connection comes in. My ruling planet is Jupiter. I looked at the planet on You Tube and found the it to be surprisingly beautiful and the music playing on the video is 'Jupiter' from Holst's Planet Suite. The other clip is taken from NASSA and is the actual sounds of the planet. The sounds of theare haunting, this is the planet communicating with us. My Chinese sign is the Rat and my element is Metal, I find that Chinese Astrology is more nature based and for me more accurate and interesting. The Chinese treat the body, soul and spirit as the whole of a person. In their medicine and traditions they go into so much more depth than we do. Oh, now I'm the one going off following different strands. It must be catching. When you look at both the Astrological signs I can see certain elements of me in them. By applying the open mindedness of Kundera and Calvino there are many more strands in my future that I can follow.
I believe there's a link with crystals, nature and folklore this leads on to the water colour by Arthur Rackham of Titania. This is one of many illustrations he did for A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare. This connection comes back to that of last weeks blog and our continuing search for something other, something that will keep us alive in memory or in spirit. It's not just children that believe in fairies.'...there is enough (evidence of fairies) already available to convince any reasonable man that the matter is not one which can be readily dismissed..' THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES bySir Arthur Conan Doyle.
If we close our minds and believe that this is impossible we will never really know, but open them and how many worlds within this one will be open to us? I have just read Once by James Herbert whose novel is all about the balance of the natural world, fairies and folklore are integral to the protection of our planet. They are the planet's voice.

When you look at the planet Jupiter and think of the view that the Astronauts have of Earth from their new viewing window, you have to think of the force of mother nature. It would be foolish of us to think that we are it. There is much to be said for the Inca and Egyptian philosophies and for those such as the Apache Indians. Are we that naive to think that we are the only ones. That we are it!
If there is one thing that I have learnt so far from Kundera and Calvino it's that being open to everything, to every possibility is one of the most important tools for a writer.
Without imagination we have nothing.






When I look at the picturesw of Jupitor I am reminded of a summer holiday collecting coloured sand on the Isle of Wight and making pictures with the various shades and colours of sand. Jupitor looks just like a coloured sand orb. ANOTHER STRAND TO BE EXPLORED.





4 comments:

  1. Very fascinating post, I am a huge believer in crystals, star signs and other such things.

    I wouldn't fully trust those birth charts- especially ones done on the internet- as they can be purely made up for entertainment. Mainly you have to follow your own instincts to find out what your birth stone and elements are.
    My element is said to be earth, but I feel nothing like earth, I am more like a water person as I am very sensitive to emotions. It's all about you as an individual really.

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  2. A really good blog. I like the links between astrology and crytals and the elements as they connect Earth with space and suggests that there is always something more then what we see in front of us. It also seems to connect in with Calvino's ideas on exactitude and how its impossible to write everything about a certain subject as there is always more to learn, like in space exploration. Calvino also mentions stuff about tarot cards in his book and how he wrote stories using some of the cards, you might want write something on this later blog as it seems to connect well with this one.

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  3. Somehow I can't help but think that Calvino would smile when you say 'just when I think I get where he is going, of he goes chasing another strand'. I suspect that's just what he intended and wants to take his readers on this joy-ride. I'm reading his 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveller' and it's just like that, you head off in one direction and suddenly he takes you in a completely different way - I've decided to just go along for the ride, it's actually quite fun! Just hang on tight and don't look down!!

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  4. I cant get to grips with this blogging malarky, i just commented yet..it doesnt appear to be here. Either way 'mother too knackered to notice', I'm still laughing about that as i write this. I also enjoyed the incorporation of astrology, as that's quite far out and open to interpretation much like Calvino and Kundera!

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