Don’t mind this post. I’m playing around with Picasa and embedded pictures.
And answering a friend’s question: “What does this snake ring look like?”
Any further questions?
Test Post: Pictures
Dream: Lions, oh my!
The neighborhood dogs are making quite the racket this morning. Whatever is in the street, they are not too happy about. Alerting to an intruder, I better at least look out the window to see what they are protesting today.
Why, look. There are a pair of lionesses in the street. Wait, what?
“Mom! MOM! There are LIONS in the street!” She asks if I was inebriated but comes to the window anyway. “Oh my God! There are lions in the street! The neighbor’s dogs are out!” She runs to the back yard and I follow right behind her, questioning why she is headed outside if there are lions running about.
Dream: Man or Mouse
I knew I was asleep the moment I opened my eyes in the darkness. I did not go gently into the Dreaming, it was quite the tumultuous ride. I was wary but did not feel I could force myself awake right away. I knew I had to wait it out. The floor beneath me was solid darkness. I was illuminated by a spotlight overhead, but the source itself was beyond my vision. Outside of the cone of light, was impenetrable darkness.
I was dressed in the same clothes I had laid down in. A voice out of the darkness complimented my choice of fabrics. A tall, thin man stepped forward. At first he seemed quite familiar. I was relieved to not be alone. But the more he spoke to me, the more I questioned who he was. He was dressed to resemble a person I often encounter in Dreaming. He had the right tone of voice, manner of dress, physical appearance. So why was I refusing to allow him to touch me?
Tarot Cast: Wait, what?
Ever have a cast just bug the ever living annoyance out of you? Even though I’ve wrestled this cast down, and fell to its depths even as I swung from its heights, it still bugs the crap out of me.
Legacy of the Divine deck, no reversals.
Read from right to left:
Heh: 3 of Wands | Vau: 0-The Fool | He: 10 of Coins | Yod: I-The Magician
Final Word: XVI-The Tower
I really don’t have a name for the fifth card position. It was spontaneous last night. Those assembled at the table were running on inexplicable instinct. I’ve made my peace with these five cards. But I have that horrid itch to publicly record it. I’ll eventually make a purty pic of it and place it in the Tarot Casts album. Eventually.
(The LofD deck was used, but I swear, when I looked at them, I saw the Thoth cards in their place. That didn’t help matters.)
(P.S. I’d tag a certain person, but that feels like crossing a privacy boundary line. So if that tag is wanted, let me know and I’ll tag ya.)
(P.P.S. Did you know if you look at the Legacy of the Divine Tower card upside down, you’ll see a grinning skull looking at you?)
Vision: Behind Door #1
(This vision was experienced October 2007. It has remained with me to this day and has been a pivotal event. How greatly different would my life had been, if I chose not to open Door #1.)
Long live lazy Saturday afternoons! And what a delightful afternoon this particular one was. Partly cloudy, cool, quiet. My window open to allow the autumn chill to play with the light blanket. Mmmm. I’m so damn lazy right now, even thinking about how lazy I am is too much work.
Neither sleep nor awake. I’m aware but not active. I don’t want to get up, but my mind is starting to turn restlessly. Too bad I don’t have a boyfriend to distract me. Oh, there is a distraction! One delightful daydream, coming up!
Dream: One Last Thing
(I really, really need a better journaling system. Really.)
He had already wrung me inside and out. I was sitting exhausted and spent on the ground next to where he stood. He walked around me slowly, examining me with a smirk.
“One last thing before you go.” I hadn’t the strength to even look up at him. Earlier he had sent me on an underground task. It was so far removed from all else I had experienced, it took all my reserves to complete and return to the surface. And now, he has “one last thing”?
I got on my knees, in preparation to stand up. He may allow me to sit and rest at times, but when he speaks, the least I could do in respect is to stand.
So tired. So spent. I catch my breath and start the push to my feet. Halfway through the rise, a large weight falls against my back, knocking me back to my knees. I tilt to one side, expecting the weight to fall off onto the ground, but instead the weight starts to wrap around me.
Barely on my knees, I struggle against the large snake that is now wrapped around my torso and neck. The struggle is in name only, I am far too exhausted to even bear the weight of the large snake. The weight of the snake affects more than just flesh. I am completely captive to my bonds. I have not even the will to struggle.
He pulls me back up to a sitting kneeled position. The snake adjusts, its tail wrapped tight against my arms, binding my arms and hands behind me. The coils are wrapped several times around my chest, lax just enough to allow me to breathe. The snake’s head rests heavily on my own, forcing my face downward.
He walks around me once, verifying my captivity. I feel a chthonic pull on my psyche, pulling my awareness back into the ground, leaving my body anchored in the python’s coils.
I remember him asking me questions. I remember the sound of my voice as I answered. I remember none of the words.
He is satisfied with the event. He pulls gently at the python’s head. It loosens its grip around me, and silently moves into the ground beneath me. It circles me clockwise, burrowing into and merging with the dirt under me.
I’m left laying facedown on the pebbly ground. He kneels beside me, chuckling. Turning me over is like moving a sleeping person, I offer no resistance.
He gives me a few more words of instruction. And then laughingly tells me to “sleep it off”.
I wake up more exhausted than when I laid down for the nap.
Dream: Sleeping in the Dirt
“You don’t look too well. You’re more pale than me.” He chuckles at his attempt at humor. And sighs when I don’t join in. I feel a cold hand on my forehead, too small to align with the deep male voice beside me. “And hot as well. Hotter than a human should be. You should have come to me sooner.”
I open my eyes in confusion, but nothing I see makes sense. I close them to focus on sound instead. I was at home, in my bed. Alone in the house. Who is this that talks to me? I try to sit upright but my migraine asserts itself cruelly and forces me back down.
“Slow down, Soft-Skin. You are still in the pain’s grip.” The small cold hand now lays on my chest. A moment of pause, the hand withdraws.
Tarot Spread: "Horseshoe", 7-card
7 cards in a line, or a gentle arc if you want to make it look purty.
[1] – [2] – [3] – [4] – [5] – [6] – [7]
[1] Recent Past (The Setup)
[2] Present (The Here and Now)
[3] Internal influence(s) (From Within)
[4] External influence(s) (From Without)
[5] The Challenge and/or Lesson (The Gate)
[6] Near Future (First Repercussion)
[7] Far Future (Second Repercussion)
Dream: Savanna Songs
You know the disclaimer! Long read. NSFW. Keep away from prudes, children, and ideological fanatics. Comments are welcomed and encouraged.
Hot. Hot and dry. Hot and dry and no shade. My dress shoes fell apart a long time ago. About the same time my red dress was almost completely ripped off me. But I escaped them. I won’t die by my kidnapper’s hands. I’ll die in the African savanna instead if I don’t find shelter.
The kidnappers are far behind me. I know I am completely free of them. I wasn’t what they expected. I wasn’t a meek timid girl that they could intimidate and slap around into submission. I fought from the moment I was snatched. I bit and gouged and returned fists for fists. I remember a cage, vaguely. Somehow I escaped from it into the cargo truck that was bouncing along. No other vehicles behind them, they never saw me jump from the truck and roll into the bush.
Prose: Full Moon in Pisces, a fading photo
I followed the footsteps of the camels.
Trod carefully in the midst of nowhere.
She walked beside.
I held her harp stringed with arrows.
Her language was without vain intellect.
Her words watered within.
She led me away from the midnight river.
Twixt the towers, the mountains, and the dogs.
The jackal watched with approval.
The numbing rain washed away my brilliant garments.
The twisted thorns ripped away my layered sandals.
I walked her world.
Waxing became waning became waxing again.
The midnight river overflows with light.
I rise with the sun.