K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah

Give Thanks to the Creator(Native American Music~432hz)

Definition of eddy

 (Entry 1 of 3)

1a : a current of water or air running contrary to the main current especially : a circular current : whirlpool

b : something moving similarly

2 : a contrary or circular current (as of thought or policy)

eddy rolls out 29 year old watercolor....

I painted this watercolor back when the tafoni caverned coastline near Pescadero, California was my "stomping grounds"....it remains one of my favorites....

heritage rose and rob brezsney...

my "Rose Heritage" in the middle of my mom's Backyard circa 2012

I have always loved this and other versions (via the folk process) of this Navajo/Dine song...Thanks to Rob Breszney for reviving it again....

+

In beauty I walk
In beauty I walk

My eyes see beauty
My thoughts find beauty
My feelings rouse beauty
My words name beauty

With beauty above me, I walk
With beauty below me, I walk
With beauty behind me and before me, I walk
With beauty all around me, I walk

Through the returning seasons, I walk in beauty
On the trail blessed with pollen, I walk in beauty
With mist falling and moon rising, I walk in beauty

It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty


—Diné prayer
As a double Libra, Scorpio rising...I tend to read both...

+

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It's natural and healthy to feel both the longing
to connect and the longing to be independent. Each of those urges deserves
an honored place in your heart. But you may sometimes experience them
as being contradictory; their opposing pulls may rouse tension. I bring
this to your attention because I suspect that the coming weeks will be a
test of your ability to not just abide in this tension, but to learn from and
thrive on it. For inspiration, read these words by Jeanette Winterson.
"What should I do about the wild heart that wants to be free and the tame
heart that wants to come home? I want to be held. I don’t want you to come
too close. I want you to scoop me up and bring me home at night. I don't
want to tell you where I am. I want to be with you."

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Louvre Museum in Paris displays
38,000 objects throughout its eighteen acres of floor space. Among its
most treasured thirteenth-century artworks is *The Madonna and Child
in Majesty Surrounded by Angels*, a huge painting by Italian painter
Cimabue. When a museum representative first acquired it in the
nineteenth century, its price was five francs, or less than a dollar. I urge
you to be on the lookout for bargains like that in the coming weeks.
Something that could be valuable in the future may be undervalued now.

new acrylics...

  Above is another addition to my online effort to honor my friend Leslie Pray. See below. It is a combination of a collage done with photos from an Athens,Georgia tourism brochure I received in the mail a few weeks ago, rubbings of our floor here and acrylic paints.  I guess I call it "Leslie doing tricks in the great beyond..."

My little Brother, Patrick left behind this square (stencil) that he had made and I have been using it more lately for art.....

 

I have also been using an old tiger balm jar to stamp and paint around as I love the beehive shape....

Analyze these babies GEO!!!!

Natalie Merchant: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Pachelbel Canon in D Fantasia for hammered dulcimer

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (Author),

Everybody Needs A Rock

"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth w/ Words & Rainforest EFX

The Frequency of LOVE | Solfeggio 528 Hz ➤ Known for DNA Healing & Activ...

strawbale

www.strawbale.com

for my november birthday folks!......

 ABS Watercolor circa 2004 or 6/15/00 i have so many and dated only a few.......

Click on this to see more of my favorite paintings from back in the day so to say: 

https://anniebsiemer.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-08-12T11:53:00-04:00&max-results=7&start=49&by-date=false

This black and white picture immediately brought to mind the art of paper marbling.  I have taught paper marbling to thousands of children,a few hundred adults and a plethora of friends here and there, and at least one lover.
Using oil paints (now known to be toxic so discontinued for a long time) and good old wheat paste and water, we swirled our way to little masterpieces
 one and all.
My favorite part about marbling was the blending of the colors
naturally there on the water
looking like so many rivers and clouds and the ebb and flow of oceans...all of the patterns of this Earth....
But this isn't that.
This is this:

 

 

Coal ash swirls on the surface of the Dan River following one of the worst coal-ash spills in U.S. history into the river in Danville, Va., in February 2014. The T-RUMP Environmental Protection Agency wants to ease restrictions on coal ash and wastewater from coal plants.

 

Gerry Broome / AP

 

 

 

 

Nasturtium Tunnel

Pigeon Point

2007

Fire Cider Remedy, by Rosemary Gladstar

Remembering Leslie Pray part 3...

 

 A Ventana for Leslie

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the loss of a beautiful soul and  gentle laughing, creative spirit, my friend Leslie Pray.  She was intentionally run down by a mentally ill person in Southern California, while riding her bike.  I have posted the link to her obituary on a previous post below.  I decided to honor Leslie on this day by staying outside in the wilderness of our backyard, and did.

 

I still cannot really wrap my head around this senseless act of violence.  Last year after hearing this shocking news, all I could really do was be outraged, cry and color.

This past September I decided to try and do a little Dia de Los Muertos altar for my friend, and three paintings/ art works came out of it. 

Leslie in 1988 as part of The Glen Helen Outdoor Education 

 and Raptor Rehab Center staff

 "Leslie riding off..."

Above is the first painting that came out of this effort to somehow heal myself and others from this tragic loss.  

I still really don't have the ability to come up with words to describe the shock.

I wish for love and healing for Leslie's life partner and family. 

The second was The Ventana above.  The third painting is truly in the spirit of Dia de Los Muertos, but it's all still too raw for me to display here right now. 

 Rest in Peace my friend. Rest in Peace. 


Here is a link to a blog I found while looking for more info. This tribute/vigil held last year looks beautiful.


http://centerlinerule.blogspot.com/2018/11/be-inspired-by-her-kindness-ghost-bike.html




 

Remembering Leslie Pray part 2

Breakage

"I go down to the edge of the sea.

How everything shines in the morning light!

The cusp of the whelk,

the broken cupboard of the clam,

the opened, blue mussels,

moon snails, pale pink and barnacle scarred—

and nothing at all whole or shut, but tattered, split,

dropped by the gulls onto the gray rocks and all the moisture gone.

It's like a schoolhouse

of little words,

thousands of words.

First you figure out what each one means by itself,

the jingle, the periwinkle, the scallop

       full of moonlight.

Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story."

Mary Oliver

Remembering Leslie Pray.....part 1

“When I take you to the Valley, you’ll see the blue hills on the left and the blue hills on the right, the rainbow and the vineyards under the rainbow late in the rainy season, and maybe you’ll say, “There it is, that’s it!” But I’ll say. “A little farther.” We’ll go on, I hope, and you’ll see the roofs of the little towns and the hillsides yellow with wild oats, a buzzard soaring and a woman singing by the shadows of a creek in the dry season, and maybe you’ll say, “Let’s stop here, this is it!” But I’ll say, “A little farther yet.” We’ll go on, and you’ll hear the quail calling on the mountain by the springs of the river, and looking back you’ll see the river running downward through the wild hills behind, below, and you’ll say, “Isn’t that the Valley?” And all I will be able to say is “Drink this water of the spring, rest here awhile, we have a long way yet to go and I can’t go without you.”

Ursula Le Guin from Always Coming Home  

 Rest in Peace my friend. I cannot believe still  that you are gone. Now you and Ursula are in heaven laughing at it all , I am sure.

https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/obituary-leslie-pray-1964-2018/Content?oid=23200981

Happy Halloween.....

This was taken 5 years ago but it's the only time that I have dressed up on this day in many years.  I seem to be going through another metamorphic change so thought I would post this picture that I had shared on facebook.  
More importantly, this day is the 25th Anniversary of my surviving Ovarian Cancer.  I have written about it on this blog before. 

 https://anniebsiemer.blogspot.com/2009/10/


 I did surgery to remove it but refused chemotherapy.   I opted instead to use plant medicine.  I was very lucky at the time to have been surrounded by several women who were involved with the Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium.  
I will forever be grateful to that group of women.  To keep the cancer from re-occuring, I chose to use the Essiac Formula.  I was given the actual formula from an herbalist working at Rosemary's Garden, an Herbal Apothecary located in Sebastopol, California (as the prepared formula in bottles was not affordable to me).  I will forever be Thankful to the Ojibway healer who shared the formula with Canadian Nurse, Renee Caisse in the early 1950's. Google it.  Later today, I will post the formula.  It is an amazing tonic for so many things. 
NOTE: I LOVED THE ACTUAL PREPARING OF THIS AND IT ADDED AN EXTRA BONUS/RITUAL FOR OWNING SELF-HEALING....

 THE ESSIAC FORMULA

 6 1/2 CUPS OF BURDOCK ROOT

16 OUNCES OF SHEEP SORREL

4 OZ OF SLIPPERY ELM BARK

1 OZ OF TURKISH RHUBARB ROOT

-USE 8 OZ AT A TIME OF THIS DRY MIXTURE

-PUT INTO 2 GALLONS OF DISTILLED WATER AND SIMMER FOR 10 MINUTES

-COVER AND  ALLOW THE MIXTURE TO COOL FOR 12 HOURS 

NEXT PREPARE GLASS BOTTLES(12 OR MORE AMBER OR CLEAR) THE SAME WAY YOU WOULD WHEN DOING ANY CANNING...STERILIZING ETC 

 THE NEXT DAY REHEAT THE TEA, BRINGING ALMOST TO A BOIL BUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO BOIL IT.

 USING CHEESECLOTH OR A STRAINER, POUR THE TEA INTO THE PREHEATED BOTTLES THE SAME SANITARY WAY YOU WOULD WHILE DO CANNING.

STORE IN A REFRIGERATOR TO PREVENT GROWTH OF MOLD

TAKE TWO OUNCES, TWICE A DAY, MORNING(BEFORE EATING) AND EVENING (AFTER EATING)

HEAL ON!

I am proud to say that "Big- Pharma" has not entered my body/temple since 1994. 

My favorite  TREE and "GROUNDING" song......

This is/was the Silver Maple Tree that stood in front of the house on Lynward Road in a Columbus, Ohio West-side suburb called "Holly Hills", where I grew up.

   When my parents purchased the newly built-for-us tri- level house in 1962,  they had to agree to plant 2 trees and this is the one that survived.  For my entire growing up through my Mom's passing on in 2012,  it was "The Picture Tree" as everyone who ever had their picture taken outside at our house by my Mom , (the photographer) would have to
stand in front  of this tree.

A few years ago, to my dismay, the new owner cut it down.  My Aunt Mickey had my cousin Gary go get pieces of it for me and I have one piece here in Florida.

This tree will always be my original "Giving Tree" as I climbed in it as a child.

Early this morning I  was looking at the pictures on a hard-drive of a camera I had purchased for my Dad back in 2011 and found this picture and a few others that I will share here now that I didn't honestly know were there.  I am so very grateful for these found pictures as my Moms glorious backyard garden has since been completely mowed down as well.

And here is my favorite old grounding song...a song I taught hundreds and thousands of children in a few environmental education programs here and there.  I believe that it was written by a woman named Betsy Rose:  It is a song that never ends...

"Standing like a tree

with my roots dug down,

my branches wide and open...

come down the sun

come down the rain

to a heart that is open to be ....

Standing like a tree ...."

repeat over and over 

Temenos

"When we choose a seat or standing area on a bus or train, when we arrange space in an office or workplace, when we decide where to put a garden, or chairs on a porch, where to sit on the riverbank to have lunch, where to play with the children — all of these decisions have to do with temenos, marking out a space appropriate for a certain spirit that breathes life into our activity." 

from The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life by Thomas Moore

I found more on temenos today on this blog called 

"A Reverant Life" by C. Forrest McDowell PhD

https://reverentlife.com/2011/05/26/sanctuary-temenos-%E2%80%94-sacred-boundary-for-the-soul/

He writes:

"Our interior system of temenos, like rooms and gardens of the soul, is enriched and enchanted by the furnishings of our thoughts. We often come to a place in our day, for example, when we feel a need to let go of worldly thoughts and enter into a more sparse, relaxed, and peaceful inner space. At such times this interior temenos becomes interior sanctuary, as in a daydream, the recitation of a mantra, the silent outpouring of prayer, or quiet reflection. We feel, in short, momentarily walled-off from the world."

 Also from this blogger:

"The relationship between daily sanctuary and peace is so interconnected that we need to understand how temenos (sacred boundary) and the Spirit of Place afford us refuge." 

from Alfred Lord Tennyson:

"In this boundless universe
let us this thought rehearse:
We can be boundless for better
or boundless for worse."

random paper cutout by Annie B. Siemer

circa 2004

Hoping and Praying

Photo by Chandra Passero

Sculptor/Artist unknown


 

For years and years I had dreams that were focused around a very tall , very thin Obsidian Black woman in all matters of my own affairs. The first one was back in 1988 when I was getting ready to go to a job at a Girl Scout Camp in Thetford, Vermont. This woman showed me a sculpture made out of matchbook type wood. She made this sculpture in the town square there and then destroyed it. 
 

I was going back there to be The Arts and Crafts and Ecology Director. At first I thought it was reminiscent of a teaching I had in college my senior year in a pottery class. Our teacher then tried to instill in us these things: both that whatever we made would be around (after firing) for a very long time, (so it was important for it to be not only useful and beautiful to our own eyes), but we should know that it was permanent, so as not to waste the clay , I reckon. Then later I realized it was probably a nudge to realize that nothing is permanent.

I later had a dream where I was living in Sebastopol, California in which Sebastopol had become an island after some great Earth change or flood. In this same dream, about 1995, I confronted my Fred Phelps-like Brother, Michael about his treatment of me. I had been trying to maintain my health after surgery for Ovarian Cancer using the Essiac formula as well as a number of other natural healing methods (that I have previously written about in this blog). In waking life, Mike had written me a homophobic themed letter, not in support, but to tell me that he thought I was going to ( his proverbial) hell. When I confronted him in the dream, my tall Black woman ( who I had by then realized was my higher power personified) just shook her head in a slow and steady “no”. I took this to mean he wasn’t worth my energy and moved on.

 

I saw this picture of this sculpture on a friend’s facebook page and asked her if I could use it. The figure is not only important, for the temenos or ambiance of sacred space that she (my friend) has created surrounding it...but it looks to be about how I feel right now. I asked her to borrow it for this...because this is how I see both myself and my Tall Black Woman now. Sitting cross-legged, a lot older, a little more round. Trying to stay in the moment , while also hoping and praying for positive outcomes with the challenges I and we now face...individually and as a society.

I am hoping and praying that my one remaining brother will eventually treat me with the love, compassion and respect that I deserve, while also trying to accept that this may never actually happen...trying to still....again.... now let it go, knowing still that I am responsible for my own path, not his.

I am hoping and praying still that all of the people on our planet will realize that this moment is really all we have...and that loving each other can be the only way for us to survive , and that none of us are permanent.

I am hoping and praying for an end to all wars, especially the ones going on in our own families.

I am hoping and praying for the well -being of my friends fleeing fires in Northern Cali, other friends healing themselves (in their own ways) of cancers and life threatening diseases or friends and family facing loss of loved ones and myriad other obstacles to true inner peace.

I am hoping and praying that I myself can rise above the chaos and hatred and remember myself that I (even through all of the grief and challenges of my past several years) have had a very incredible life experience, meeting SO MANY beautiful and soulful folks in each and every place along my path, and remember to sit and reflect , with genuine gratitude , for each and every one of these life experiences.

4/16/2020post note: I went back and reread the amazing blogpost from which the picture of this statue came from...my old/new friend Chandra Passero. Here's the blog post that is timely again for today: 
https://www.chandrapassero.com/earth-based-traditions

occupy 8 years later

My hopes/demands during Occupy 8 years ago haven't really changed

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

'tis the season....

10 year old collage

1 section of
Mixed Media Collage

12/21/2009

Annie B. Siemer

Fall Colors of My Garden.....