Before Hallowe’en, there was Samhain (pronounced Sawin). This refers to a Celtic/Gaelic festival that marked the transition into the colder part of the year, the dark half. Celtic people counted a day as sunset to sunset, so the celebration for the festival would start at sunset on 31 October. This festival marked the midpoint between…
We never know their names We never see their faces We don’t know who they are or where they live but they are all around us Anonymous, hiding in plain sight Saving lives and saving souls Mending bruises and mending hearts Making peace, making love Holding lamps in the darkness so others can see their…
“Ugetsu Monogatari” was directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, known for such films as the original “47 Ronin” and “Sansho the Bailiff”. It is based on a combination of two stories from “Tales of Moon and Rain” by Ueda Akinari. The story is set during the civil wars of the sixteenth century, and follows two peasant couples.…
Wouldn’t it be fun to go live in a castle a real, old, fairy-tale like castle with high walls and battlements, and, most importantly, a moat and a drawbridge! Wouldn’t it be so good to come home from all the noise and fuss cross the drawbridge into your castle and then, with relish raise that…
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the…
Fear starts in my diaphragm rising like bile until it is a primal scream in my throat in my head choking off the air until I want to crawl out of my own skin It’s just anxiety, they say nothing to be afraid of But they’re wrong There’s everything to be afraid of The world…
Whirling through the universe hurtling in eternal orbit around a shining star We chant a paean a victory song to our survival through aeons of change and change again Continents rise and fall civilizations are just a blink But we, the wanderers, go on We sing through the long ages As we watch the tiny…
In the high places In the lofty, lonely places seekers after truth stretch their minds and souls to the infinite. Shamans and priests pilgrims and hermits make their way to the very summit to seek enlightenment. On the mountaintop the world disappears Everything seems so small from up there The air is clean and clear…
“Always Coming Home” is something a little different. Rather than being a single narrative, it is comprised of many different parts, stories, poems, articles, even recipes. All of these serve to illustrate a culture, created by the author, of a future America. The main people described in the story are based in California, but it…
Let us speak of beautiful things Let us look beyond the surface bedlam to see an ethereal truth Let us understand the great goodness in the mysteries of life Whether it be the wordless power of art and music Whether it be flowers and trees, waterfalls and mountains Lakes and rivers and ever-moving oceans Whether…
Eclectic Assemblage 