Hi Amy! I'm curious if is the Tuatha Dé Danann who are said to be located in Glasgow , UK? Do you know?
I read something about Glasgow and how there was said to be a hidden portal there beyond which lay a kingdom of fairy like entities. I read this while on a train in Switzerland last December after having boarded in London. I wanted so much to go back and visit Glasgow before leaving Europe, but is was impossible. I'd like to go back .
I really loved this post - was this the one accidentally sent out to non-subscribers? (I am not even sure I subscribe , maybe I will look into it.
In any case , your post was a gentle gentle reminder of the ever-present potential to move sideways back into the Light. I have long known the Great Reality exists ..right along side the seemingly sold physical world. It has sustained me for 40 years, the ability to move back and forth in and out as needed.
Then, at times, it will amaze me that I forget!...a mindless sojourn into the darker chaos of this current collective human life finds me feeling stuck there, most recently almost despairing! ...how to survive and navigate when so completely overwhelmed by all that is happening, the cognitive dissonance I feel when there is no longer a sense of shared reality , no shared sense of truth. It started to make me feel crazy and afraid.
But as a friend reminded me today; of the simple touchstones; "a roof , a refuge of home, clothes , enough food ,and feet to walk on the earth. keep it simple. one day at a time. live . breathe, be grateful. "
I added to myself "Get off Instagram! stop the endless stream of clamoring voices ...too much! too much input! most of it fearful - maybe with good reason- but I realize my sensitivity cannot handle that kind of constant bombardment. It was making me ill.
Your post helped tremendously; I can enter the temple. at any time
finally coming to stillness, I see that the chaos lives mostly in my thinking, but I am free to not have to think at all, really. I call it 'dropping into my body' . In the body there is silence and aliveness . a childlike joy..and then clarity about the next simple action.
Thank you! Im more committed now to NOT roughly ,awkwardly straddling two worlds and trying to live in both. I will live in Home ..and visit the world when I have some light to bring there, awareness, Peace.
“Mists of Avalon” came first, then “Priestess of Avalon”. I read “Mists” but not “Priestess”.
As for the Darkover novels, they vary in quality; it really depends on when a particular book in the series was written. The early books were more like space opera while the later ones were much more intellectual, though there was some sort of action in most of them. “Darkover Landfall” was not published until 1972 and by then several early stories and novels had been published. This was more of a novella than a novel but it told the story of how Darkover was originally colonized.
At the other end of the spectrum is “Rediscovery”, co-written with Mercedes Lackey in 1993, which tells how Earth rediscovered its lost colony on Darkover a few thousand years after it was colonized.
Of particular interest to you might be any of the Darkover novels dealing with the Renunciates, also known as the Free Amazons. The first book you should look for is “The Shattered Chain”. Sadly most of the Darkover novels are out of print, or are hard to find; you might have better luck looking for audiobooks or e-books.
For all of the years I've been admiring your writing, this is one of the most beautiful, profound and deeply moving pieces I've seen/felt - deep gratitude to you, Amy 🙏 💞
I read your post, old friend. And it makes me wonder whether you’ve read or are familiar with the feminine side of Arthurian legends - books like “The Mists of Avalon” and other books that focus on Guinevere. Not Guinevere and Lancelot, or Guinevere and Arthur; just the lady herself.
I’m also wondering if you’re familiar with the Darkover novels and stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Although they’re science fiction and are about life on a distant world, a lot of them focus on the role of women in that world - a lost colony of Earth which evolved (or devolved, take your pick) into a feudal society in which men held one kind of power and women held a distinctly different kind of power.
Thank you, Bill. I love Marion, Zimmer, Bradley, in fact her book, Priestess of Avalon was one of the inspirations for this post. I haven’t read her dark over novels. Thank you for the reminder. Did you read them?
Yes to all of this! I had a monk tell me when I was leaving the monastery after a retreat that I wasn't going back to the "real world." This, he said, is the real world. I've never forgotten it. All I have to do to get back there is Turn Sideways into the Light. Thank you for this.
Hi Amy! I'm curious if is the Tuatha Dé Danann who are said to be located in Glasgow , UK? Do you know?
I read something about Glasgow and how there was said to be a hidden portal there beyond which lay a kingdom of fairy like entities. I read this while on a train in Switzerland last December after having boarded in London. I wanted so much to go back and visit Glasgow before leaving Europe, but is was impossible. I'd like to go back .
I really loved this post - was this the one accidentally sent out to non-subscribers? (I am not even sure I subscribe , maybe I will look into it.
In any case , your post was a gentle gentle reminder of the ever-present potential to move sideways back into the Light. I have long known the Great Reality exists ..right along side the seemingly sold physical world. It has sustained me for 40 years, the ability to move back and forth in and out as needed.
Then, at times, it will amaze me that I forget!...a mindless sojourn into the darker chaos of this current collective human life finds me feeling stuck there, most recently almost despairing! ...how to survive and navigate when so completely overwhelmed by all that is happening, the cognitive dissonance I feel when there is no longer a sense of shared reality , no shared sense of truth. It started to make me feel crazy and afraid.
But as a friend reminded me today; of the simple touchstones; "a roof , a refuge of home, clothes , enough food ,and feet to walk on the earth. keep it simple. one day at a time. live . breathe, be grateful. "
I added to myself "Get off Instagram! stop the endless stream of clamoring voices ...too much! too much input! most of it fearful - maybe with good reason- but I realize my sensitivity cannot handle that kind of constant bombardment. It was making me ill.
Your post helped tremendously; I can enter the temple. at any time
finally coming to stillness, I see that the chaos lives mostly in my thinking, but I am free to not have to think at all, really. I call it 'dropping into my body' . In the body there is silence and aliveness . a childlike joy..and then clarity about the next simple action.
Thank you! Im more committed now to NOT roughly ,awkwardly straddling two worlds and trying to live in both. I will live in Home ..and visit the world when I have some light to bring there, awareness, Peace.
it's joy to read your writing again . love to you
“Mists of Avalon” came first, then “Priestess of Avalon”. I read “Mists” but not “Priestess”.
As for the Darkover novels, they vary in quality; it really depends on when a particular book in the series was written. The early books were more like space opera while the later ones were much more intellectual, though there was some sort of action in most of them. “Darkover Landfall” was not published until 1972 and by then several early stories and novels had been published. This was more of a novella than a novel but it told the story of how Darkover was originally colonized.
At the other end of the spectrum is “Rediscovery”, co-written with Mercedes Lackey in 1993, which tells how Earth rediscovered its lost colony on Darkover a few thousand years after it was colonized.
Of particular interest to you might be any of the Darkover novels dealing with the Renunciates, also known as the Free Amazons. The first book you should look for is “The Shattered Chain”. Sadly most of the Darkover novels are out of print, or are hard to find; you might have better luck looking for audiobooks or e-books.
For all of the years I've been admiring your writing, this is one of the most beautiful, profound and deeply moving pieces I've seen/felt - deep gratitude to you, Amy 🙏 💞
That means a great deal coming from you, dear friend. Thank you I’m glad the post struck a chord. I knew it was time to share it again.
I read your post, old friend. And it makes me wonder whether you’ve read or are familiar with the feminine side of Arthurian legends - books like “The Mists of Avalon” and other books that focus on Guinevere. Not Guinevere and Lancelot, or Guinevere and Arthur; just the lady herself.
I’m also wondering if you’re familiar with the Darkover novels and stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Although they’re science fiction and are about life on a distant world, a lot of them focus on the role of women in that world - a lost colony of Earth which evolved (or devolved, take your pick) into a feudal society in which men held one kind of power and women held a distinctly different kind of power.
Thank you, Bill. I love Marion, Zimmer, Bradley, in fact her book, Priestess of Avalon was one of the inspirations for this post. I haven’t read her dark over novels. Thank you for the reminder. Did you read them?
Yes to all of this! I had a monk tell me when I was leaving the monastery after a retreat that I wasn't going back to the "real world." This, he said, is the real world. I've never forgotten it. All I have to do to get back there is Turn Sideways into the Light. Thank you for this.
Oh and a great big yes to all of this!! I love that monk’s reminder. Thank you for sharing it.