** "And now the moon like a white rose shone," W. B. Yeats
Treasure Hunt
I saw a picture of one of my archived books in my imagination. I "saw" the cover in great detail with author and title. I went on a search in my own home to touch the book with my hands again. Moving about, we collect bins and barrels of things plus paintings and writings and scattered bits of lifetimes past, present, and future.
But the book wasn't where I had "photographed" it would be? So, I hauled out a giant teaming box and opened a Treasure Trove with all the "missing threads" interconnecting to stitch and weave together this story!
"Life, Let it Happen!"
And there was my precious book~I spotted it instantly like a Cheetah stalks an antelope. It was a book of Irish Aran sweater patterns along with black and white photos of ancient Celtic Fishermen sporting their sweaters. Often men knit and designed their own sweaters! I lifted the book up like a puppy and felt the sleek cover~remembering the days when Aran yarns slipped through my fingers and knitting was my meditation. Years before I had practiced Tai Chi exercise as meditation. "Time" rewinding....
But there is more to the tale....in winter, I bring out a glistening blue and white painting I call The White Stag. I added the stag after the ice, snow, and stars were painted. The picture needed a life form, and an antlered deer appeared.
* When the stag sprang to painted form, I reflected and held, in my imagination, what I called the Big Grey Book. This was huge anthology of children's literature, almost too heavy for me to pick up. I loved to have my mom read me, over and over again, *The Ghost of the Great White Stag by Arthur C. Parker. As she spoke the words, I saw pictures. I "saw" the stag then enclosed in mist, now making an entrance onto the painting as if by magic.
Wanderings
The Celtic poet and hero, Oisin's name, means "Young Deer". I thought about a paper one of my daughters wrote, The Opposition Between Human and Divine in Yeats' The Wanderings of Oisin. Buried in this box was a copy of this paper and many other Celtic Treasures! Now I can write several threads with higher intensity. Now I had answers to questions submerged years ago....K(NOW)!
Just a few days before this discovery, I pictured these writings, I could "see" them and "touch" them but where were they? "Imagine" and they are here!
Wandering Again
Oisin ("Oh-Sheen" in Irish, "Aw-Shan" (English)) is a mortal poet in Ireland who falls in love with Niamth ("Nee-iv") from the fairy realm. Niamth is the daughter of the immortal poet, Aengus and the mortal woman, Edain. Niamth sweeps Oisin away, and they ride her white horse over the top of the water to reach the land of Danaan, the Land of the Young. Their adventures continue from there as Oisin struggles with battling dragons and longing for his homeland, Ireland:
** "Dreaming of her own melting hues, her golds, her ambers and her blues...." The Wanderings of Oisin, by W.B. Yates
Arran of the many stags,
The sea strikes against its shoulder....
Kuno Meyer, Ancient Irish Poetry
Related Posts:
In the K(now)
T-I-M-E
Silver Stars and Moonbeams
Picture Perfect
Deer Dreamer
Stars and Snow, Spirit of Phoebe (a spirit cat)
Winter Wolf
Resources
Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans, Fishermen's Sweaters from the British Isles by Gladys Thompson
A White Stag also appears in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
* The Ghost of the Great White Stag, from the book Skunny Wundy Tales from the Seneca Tribe by Arthur Caswell Parker (1881-1955)
**The Wanderings of Oisin by William Butler Yeats
Poetry for Young People: William Butler Yeats, edited by Jonathan Allison and beautifully illustrated by Glen Harrington
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Photo: White Moon, photo by Rob, published with permission
Oil Painting: The White Stag (full color detail), and winter sun brushes White Stag by Dahlis Roy
