a break for tea and reflection during the work day

sharing oolong tea yesterday on a covered porch, french creek roaring in the ravine below, we talked about rivers... actual rivers that we know, and others that we've discovered in books, including the metaphorical/metaphysical river of herman hesse's siddhartha...

the night before, i had dreamed of a river, a journey, and an unexpected discovery.

returning to the abyss

in some versions of the i ching, k'an (hexagram 29, the abysmal) is translated as "gorge," a steep ravine through which a stream flows.

i'll return to bachelard soon, to water and dreams.

resources

french creek reservation
herman hesse, siddhartha (online version)
wickipedia, i ching hexagram 29

... and remembering tea...

oolong tea

jeanne

the abyss and phenomenology of water


in the i ching or book of changes, hexagram 29 is k'an, the abysmal (water)... "the water that comes from above and is in motion on earth in streams and rivers, giving rise to all life on earth." it also represents the heart/soul of a human, the inner light inclosed within darkness... and danger, if one does not take care. (wilhelm/baynes version)

this morning, i've begun reading gaston bachelard's water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter... a friend introduced me to bachelard's the poetics of space a few years ago... a synchronicity took me to the dallas institute of humanities and the work of james hillman, gail thomas, and others... and to more work by bachelard, published in english by the dallas institute.

in jungian thought, and in the work of joseph campbell, water represents the inner life, the emotions, and/or the unconscious...

ponds, rivers, lakes... bachelard promises to explore these bodies of water as they appear in the natural world, and in the inner world of dreams...

i woke this morning with an image from yet another dream about water...

resources for the journey

the dallas institute of humanities and culture
wilhelm/baynes , the i ching or book of changes
gaston bachelard, water and dreams
joseph campbell, the power of myth

and remembering tea...

a history of tea

jeanne

the abyss...

pulled in by loss, i'm now learning to look into that rift
with mindful attention...

the compulsion to linger there lessens
and the load of residual childhood terror lightens

gradually, very gradually,
in this alchemical process,
fear is being transfigured into freedom

some resources for the journey

pema chodron, the places that scare you
james hillman, a blue fire
thomas moore, care of the soul
john o'donohue, anam cara: wisdom from the celtic world
linda schierse leonard, the wounded woman

snow lion publications
sounds true: wisdom for the inner life

it is important to always remember to have tea

okakura kakuzo, the book of tea

jeanne

a new vessel for the inner alchemical process, for exploring the depths...

a journey begun by conceptvessel, my art/thought website, and continued with oracle.

a companion to conceptvessel and oracle, then.

perhaps this can be a cauldron in which raw mental activity is transformed.

considerations of:

the "vessel"
alchemical processes
the soul
art
presence
transcendence
the sacred
and tea

a shared journey, perhaps.

in this liminal place, community?

jeanne