if I am a fish
why this climbing of mountains?
let me dive deeper
S.F.
'Water consciousness for personal and planetary wellbeing' is the tagline for my weblog on spa culture - Vision Spa Retreat: Reflections on Spa, Soul, and the Role of Water. In all my writings there, water plays a central role. Here is a quote from the opening page:
Water as an indicator of health and also a tool for health, is central to the spa-retreat offering. Water, as a metaphor, provides many insights into human behavior and human potential, as the Taoists knew well. Water and humans need to be free and to have depth and clarity to thrive. SF. A new vision
And this:
Let's extend our perception of water as a utility for drinking and washing to water as a vital medium for life, transformation, creativity, and healing. Not only can it enhance our sense of wellbeing, it can also expand our inner and outer awareness, and inspire life-affirming action. SF. A message about water
'Water connects us with the world around us and with our aquatic origins.' This insight is one of many that informs my writing on another weblog devoted to Aquapoetics: Creative Aquatic Bodywork describing the practice that transformed my perception and appreciation of water:
Water is also associated with the creative unconscious, the depths of human psyche, in many mythologies.... Together we float beyond conscious everyday reality and back again: between these two places is the spirit pool, a portal to dreamtime. SF. Water blessing
And this:
My practice focuses on guiding the body into a state of resonance with the surrounding water which in turn seems to harmonize the internal fluid system. In this state, there is a sense of recognition and reconnection that indicates to me just how important and how little understood is our relationship with water. SF. Liquid in motion
I invite you to explore both the above websites. Meanwhile, on this third site, I dive deeper into my personal stories around water and life. I've collected here some of the posts to date that related specifically to water - both poetry and other writings. Short extracts are provided; click on the links for more.
Let me know your response or share your own thoughts on water.
...
can you remember
where you are from
water and wisdom
living and dying
endlessly cycling
tidal redemption
love infinitum
The world will not end
in flood
When in deep water
become a diver
... read more
Because all your questions
might not be enough
you know
there was no
new myth
... read more
Astronomers said today
that Neptune, long dismissed
as a cobalt-blue gas giant
cloaked in deathly cold,
has a warm south pole.
... read more
...
Splashes of spring seeps
sounding like bells of light
all light and layers
slipping between
...
...
The sound of water flowing ...
over the pebbles, over the cobbles ...
the sound of water singing...
the sound
the train slides
beside water
brown as stale coffee
flecked
with sour foam
backyard to Georgian grandeur
grim
... read more
Cool aroma
pats my face
like a soft paw.
... read more
Other posts about water
Water is the element of personal discovery. Water sweeps us out from inside ourselves. It forces us to face our personal realities, to reveal our inner realms of being, if only to ourselves. Water is the element of naked truth....
Describes my personal response to Martin Prechtel's book, The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun: A Mayan tale of ecstasy, time, and finding one's true form. The dedication 'For the Watery Soul' immediately attracted me. The book itself took my soul by storm ....
I met Chief White Eagle in December 2003 while visiting Hot Springs, Arkansas. I had lived in the Ozark bioregion that spans both states for eighteen months at that time. The ancient landscape enchanted me....
*
A Water Dream: my aquatic journey
My water journey began at a natural hot springs resort in northern California. The springs at Harbin were once a place of healing for indigenous Indians and some of the present residents say their spirits guard the spot. For several years, I devoted myself to training in various aquatic bodywork modalities.
As a practitioner of aquatic bodywork, I seek out the creative in myself and the responsive in others so as to participate in natural or spontaneous form. Describing my work as art rather than therapy reminds me that we are involved in a dance of life and can neither control nor anticipate outcome....
In the early days of my training in aquatic bodywork, much of my learning came from receiving. Since I find writing a valuable way of uncovering and expressing experiences, I often recorded those sessions. These two accounts illustrating contrasting experiences....
*
The word 'journey' has become popular in the names of health and spiritual practices. You are invited on a 'sacred journey' or a 'healing journey' which may or may not involve outward travels but will always involve inner explorations. ...
The Grail legend describes three unhealing wounds: the Wasteland, the Wounded individual, and Women. Water as medium of the unconscious may be one of the best agents for bringing the the surface the hidden depths of these wounds and potentially facilitating healing....
Soul speaks through our unconscious and through our dreams. Dreams of water may be particularly potent.....
Water falling
(written in 1998 after my first visit to Harbin Hot Springs)
How could it end
this thing which has rendered us endless
When the dark and warmth
of sacred waters dissolved us
Who held who
floating, swirling, sinking in unison
What breathed intimacy
bound our bodies forever like this
So there we remain
held by the waves rippling through you to me
Laughing bubbles of bliss
up to the surface of our known selves
Transcending the primal soup
where aeons ago our cells must have met
Under the shaman’s watchful eye
we entered the hot and cold spirit pools
Until at last still fizzing with love
place and time separated the inseparable
...........................................................................................................................
