all images and stories are the property of Catherine Beerda-Basso and are not to be used without given permission...thank you

Saturday 31 December 2011

On this the Last Day...


Back in the beginning of this year I had dubbed it 
I had no idea what that fully would bring,
but I knew it was the right path for me.
So much so that I have discovered that Owl has always been apart of my life
this was not just something for this year
but for the years that have past
and the years that are to come.


The beginning of this year brought storms
and through those storm came the understanding
that storms are relative to perception.
That with in each storm lies Hope and Light 
That with in each storm comes a Shelter provided for all.



This year we found a new rhythm in our family...
the old one no longer worked
so gently we walked it out
and found a new song
just in time...


This year brought this mother to her knees
as I almost lost my son to darkness and despair.
I found myself broken apart
chattered from within
and the voices would have had me believe
that all Hope was Lost...
but that was not so


It became a time of remembering
that mountains can be moved
with Faith.




It was a year where Mother Earth's beauty spoke to me
everyday that I stepped out into Her Grace...



Conversations flowed from the heart
filling the rooms in which we sat...
enlightening one another's  hearts
with our Spiritual Truth and Journeys.



This year brought successful creative outlets 
for both my boys.


We traveled together
me and my boys
a time of family and giving back.


Love of this face grew to epic proportions!


Gods Grace shone brightly over us this year...
as I felt the loss of friends
and the blessings of new ones




...and the Gift of The Creators Creatures
blessed me everyday

This year brought me the wonderment of


new Life...


 Love...


the reality of Death...


and the Freedom found in Forgiveness.
*
This year offered me more time...


to pray
to meditate
to be.

I was blessed by a weekend away...


with 5 other women
where we connected with 
ourselves
each other
 the earth
 and with the Source of all things...
which brought to me a time of re-birth
which brought to me this space.


I was given the Gift of Silence and Reflection...


where I spent time with God
and all Her beauty and gentleness.
*
This year...


an old, familiar seed began to grow


one that was rooted deep with in me


and that seed grew strong,
with out my help


and continues to do so...
and I have responded to this growth
I have embraced it
and all it has come to mean to me...


I know this coming year will bring
more growth
more experience
more Love
more Grace
more Connections
I look forward to it all...
*
but for now I ponder on the year that has past
and feel the Gratitude reflection brings.
For this is a real life.

Blessings to all of you, my lovelies,
as we enter into this New Year!

Love and Light


Monday 26 December 2011

Monday Offerings...Jesus



The other day someone ask me if I believed the immaculate conception of Jesus...
I replied that I did 
that was hard for her to understand
for her it was more of a case of
see in believing
I reminded her that miracles and unexplained things are happening everyday around us...
"Like what?" 
Like life
the miracle of life
that happens everyday and we take it for granted...
Our bodies
the miraculous science of our bodies
that happen everyday and we take it for granted.
not even going into all the
amazing
unexplainable things
that happen to people
the "coincidences"
the "chance" happenings
lives saved
sickness' healed.....
it was hard for her to understand such things
perspective is everything
*
the conversation went on....

It was a great conversation
 One that caused me to reflect
To go deep with in my own faith and belief
and look at Jesus...
again


 Jesus
 my teacher, my friend, my guide.
What he represented, when he walked this earth
The things he did,
for those who reached out.
The truths he spoke
How he provoked thought with his stories
and questions
challenging all those around him to reflect
within themselves
their lives
their beliefs
their actions.
Jesus was a simple man
born to simple means
when times where not that simple
Government and Church controlled the people 
and freedom of thought was not something that was embraced
Money held power
and poverty and ignorance allowed for control...
sound familiar?


I am reading this book right now.
It is fiction,
but an interesting view inside the very human mind
of a man with a higher origin and purpose.
(Ann Rice also has two books depicting the early life of Jesus)

For me, Jesus transcended human reality,
but yet he lived it in full.
Feeling sadness, pain, isolation, uncertainty, fear.
Jesus connects me to that which is bigger than myself..
he brings Divinity within grasp.

This time of year brings it all home for me.
The reality that the simplest of people can be the most important.
That we are not measured by the material, 
but by the spiritual.
That believing in something means 
walking it out
speaking it out
standing it out.


My Jesus lives beyond religious romantic views.
He lives in the place where real life happens.
He is a man of Grace
a Grace that lives and breathes
a Grace that stops a woman from getting stoned
a Grace that allows children to get excited and unruly
a Grace that gives Love and Acceptance to prostitutes 
a Grace that sits
without judgement
 with men whose business is corrupt....
a Grace that sees beyond the immediate outer layer of a person
a Grace that looks at the heart...







Recently a sister-friend sent me a gift
In it there was a quote from Jesus
~She is not dead; only sleeping~
That was me at one time in my life
not dead, as I thought,
just sleeping.



What does Jesus look like to you?

Love and Light

Friday 23 December 2011

Storytelling...of Memorials and Letting Go


A Solstice Hangover...as the sweet Pixie talks about here...lingers around me.
I feel spent and empty, yet full and content.
Yesterday was a full day for me physically and emotionally.
I worked.
Midday I was off to celebrate Alice's Life and document it
via images for the family...


I won't go into detail...
other then to say
working while crying takes something out of you
but
I would do it again...
and
I will
To see the expression of Love
by those left behind...
the heart open up
exposing vulnerability
your own feeling of loss
your own feelings of immortality
your own feelings of fragility
Beautiful Pain...

*

From there it was back to work in the studio
and then preparations for the evening ahead...



Lanterns were lit
Candles frame the way
The fire burns
(thanks to my contributing husband)
and the time draws near.


The time to open the widow
to that which darkens our doors
and to that which will bring it light...


The sisters where lit and waiting
Waiting to hold the flame for those who would come.
A beautiful anticipation was around me
the energy of women
many women
coming together...

If ever the world sees a time when women 
shall come together
purely and simply
for the benefit of mankind
it will be a power
as the world
has never known
Matthew Arnold, 19th Century Philosopher





The women came
they gathered
they poured out

We wrote down what we anted to release,
but we also wrote down what we wanted to replace
those shadows with

My personal belief is that when we rid ourselves
of something shadow
we need to replace it with something Light
if the shadow space is left empty
that shadow will not only come back
it will bring friends...
because the place is familiar
and easy
thus the burden becomes even heavier

So we wrote what we wanted to leave behind on one card
and then wrote what we wanted to bring in on another card.

Then we were off to 
the fire
the cold of the night
the baptism of the darkest day
back into the Light.


for some of us 
this was the first time meeting
for some of us 
it was the first time burning


whatever the story
it did not matter
they came
exposing their hearts
opening their truths
bearing their souls



a beautiful gathering
hands held
prayers raised
voices sang
and we released
into the fire


then in loud voices
we called to us that which we long to replace
in our lives
that which we want to awaken
and bring back
together we surrendered
to Love...



Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. 1 You have searched me, God,
   and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue
   you, God, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.
 7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.
 13 For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
   How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.


Blessings to all who let go
and to those who have yet to do so


Thank you to Pixie Campbell 
for keeping the Flame.


I sink into my contentment
as reflections of dreams and spiritual encounters
come forth from those who attended
blessings
blessings
blessings
you Brave, Courageous souls
blessings


Love and Light