Lament singing: An ancient tradition that helps people cope with trauma in the modern world

In Finland, lament singing is experiencing a revival, one sad song at a time.

Lament singing: An ancient tradition that helps people cope with trauma in the modern world -- Science of the Spirit -- 

To the people of Karelia,

souls and spirits born in beauty:

Through the windows were your green fields,

in the blue skies larks were singing,

saints and icons stood in silence,

watching over wooden log homes.

Kanteles echoed in the dark rooms,

and the stars blinked in the night sky,

but your thoughts were wrapped in darkness:

iron hail rained on your rooftops

from the archives

at the core 
there is no right or wrong 
only silence
no words, no violence, 
no reason for writing or fighting

psychic

Patience with sexual expression, no haste with being on the recieving end of love. No worries about self-actualization knowing that there is no such thing as wasted time.
The outward results (inner results too) are no definitive precursor of what will be, merely a signpost at a crossroads.
Waiting quietly for more goodness to unfold, yes there is a wave coming, yes this is the valley, yes this is the silence before the storm. No, there is nothing to fear.
Psychic attacks are less morbid, they go by faster and lack any real threat to long-term peace of mind. A little suicide obsession that tries to take back lost ground. Be calm, be still, but be alert.
relaxation-valley

i need not

Are you the blackbird high in the tree?

I look around at all the abundance

How can it be that I doubt?

Evening falls. I listen to the singing. I rejoice

Is this not what life is about?

Even though I am without a companion

I can share my happiness with you

They may think me mad

As I converse with the angels

Dancing to the music of nature

Comfortable for the hours of silence

When they come with the night

this is where they meet

I am my own forest growing silently. I am the stretch of fertile earth where many seek to put down roots, where the water flows refreshing, where the sunlight spirals down to flood the woodland floor in golden. I am content in the silence. The trees have been here for many ages of man as I have. The earth welcomes me to lie down; the sky beckons me with outstretched arms in the warmest greeting. This is where they meet, the mystery and the reality and here is where they become one in me. I will never drown in the water; I am transparent in my own intentions. I shall never leave this place because I shall never move away from myself.

the write riddle

I must write what I know, but I know not what to write. I don’t know what to make of this life.

One moment I feel joy to be part of this world and another moment I fall apart on the floor and I know tears. For many years I have known sorrow and war.

Is this what I know?

I must write what I feel, but I don’t feel right.

Sometimes I take delight in simple things but later on I‘m afraid about future states of mind that are unkind.

This must be what living is like for me. These are the eyes with which I see.

Are these my hands with which I write?

I must write what is real but what is there at the core?

There are stories about people, images of moments, emotions and more.

Who am I? What am I here for?

I am here to write about something real knowing then that I cannot write.

At the core there is no right or wrong only silence, no words, and no violence. No reason for writing or fighting.

Nothing exists at the core.

Does nothing real exist?

These last few days I have felt a deep sadness. I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore.

divine planning

It’s hard to have a thought-process or a mindscape that is pure or a vision without the paradox. How can I be genuine in a society that lives on the fence between right and wrong? I cannot control the ripple effects of my actions without jeopardizing my values because I am not in control of how things come into being; I am not laying down the law. I want to do what’s right but how radical must I become before my actions stop contradicting my beliefs on a global scale?

I can scarce speak without reinforcing the lies; I can scarce hold my tongue when someone else is lying. I can hardly claim that what I communicate is not without a double meaning. In this world I can understand that hope is like dreaming, when my comfort is another mans misery. This is the power of the past, this is the karma of the ages, this is the history we choose to ignore because we are so insignificant individually to do anything about the power structures, it’s like rubbing salt into our own wounds, so it’s best to turn away, its best to silence the beggar with a coin so that he’ll go away for awhile.

Is this the divine plan, is this the cure, while I am rich another man is poor. Is this what being human is? I cast a vote but it’s like a joke, those I choose are deceivers but my life is in their hands, the key players are non-believers but they dictate my faith. I cannot believe my eyes; I cannot believe that this is what we are born to achieve: even more inequality. I don’t understand that we could be so blind but we choose what we want to see. Do you see something negative or do you see me?

This is the divine plan, this is the ripple effect, and this is the karma of my new project because the power I need in order to achieve lies dormant inside but the awakening is at hand.

Truth is in the paradox.

Insensitive man

21st December 2020: Saturn conjunct Jupiter in the 1st degree of Aquarius

Jupiter and Saturn form their Great Conjunction on the Solstice at 18:22 UT in the first degree of Aquarius. The rigid and asphyxiating consciousness that has shaped our world beyond recognition this year, has caused immeasurable suffering. Countless lives have been devastated and untold suffering has occurred in the shadows, often ignored to further a questionable agenda. But this meeting of the Great Benefic (Jupiter) and the Lord of Karma (Saturn) in the first degree of the sign of collective humanity (Aquarius) signals that our time has come. Relinquishing the oppressive Capricorn energy that has defined 2020, this Great Conjunction reflects a shift of power in favour of the people – our global human family. The authorities signified by Capricorn have had their chance, and whilst Pluto’s journey through Capricorn continues until the end of 2024, the end of its cosmic alliance with Saturn and Jupiter marks a significant reduction of authoritarian influence in this new cycle of becoming. This is a shift to a horizontal, egalitarian connection from one of vertical superiority. The people – you and me – are arriving in our power.

From one conjunction to another

2020 began with the Saturn Pluto conjunction lending its support to those with aspirations for domination and emboldening those for whom oppression is simply another tool to further personal goals. We all know where that’s got us! As the year ends with Saturn shifting alliance to Jupiter, the planet of inspiration, faith, optimism, freedom and resilience, our personal and collective capacity to embody this shift is potentised. But this is only the beginning. There’s still much to be done and, at times, endured. Saturn works slowly and with great care as it strengthens us for the road ahead. But we must each do our part. We’re not about to be saved, but instead have reached a tipping point at which our influence over the future is coming into its own. This is cause for hope!

Conjunctions between Saturn and Jupiter occur every twenty years. They speak to humanity’s efforts to create sustainable structures which allow for a meaningful experience of life on planet earth. Jupiter is a future-focused planet, and Saturn the planet of linear time and the maturation that accompanies it. Together they seek to fulfil the potential of the human family in line with its collective karmic load and combined potentiality. When these planets meet, the old and new co-exist with not a moment’s space between. Whilst we think in terms of linear time, truth exists outside of it, revealing itself in ways we can now better appreciate. The most ancient truths can be as vibrant as cutting-edge thought and the latest perspective as jaded as the most oft repeated lie. This conjunction in Aquarius weaves the past and present into a vivid singularity, creating a perceptual shift which casts both the past and future in a new and illuminating light.

A new dimension of truth

As Jupiter and Saturn herald the beginning of a new twenty-year cycle they expand, beyond our wildest dreams, future possibilities. Who we think we are is changing. More of the mystery is being revealed. They say you can’t change the past but outside of linear time even that isn’t true. Timelines shift and change constantly and within them we can create in ways not possible when we ‘stick to the rules’! Simply casting the eye of the present over our past changes it, for we see in new ways and from fresh perspectives. We know ourselves now to be someone we hadn’t met then, and our present being places the past in its own particular light. Events may remain but their meaning changes and significance shifts as we uncover ever deeper layers of who and what we really are.

In Aquarius our minds are expanded and renewed. Outmoded mental paradigms can be released, unlocking unseen promise of future potentiality. Willingness to embrace the freshest of perspectives allows them to blossom into truth from a new dimension. We must live in full knowledge that what we see is but a fraction of what is, who we are a mere speck in the vastness of the cosmos and what we believe may be entirely wrong in every respect. This conjunction plugs us into the cosmic circuitry. It feels electrical, high voltage. It may blow a few fuses but that’s all part of the process. If we can’t take the current we must expand until we can. Dare to think new thoughts, contemplate the impossible, envision a fantastical future. Without doing so we cannot honour the potential of the coming months which will demand great things of us. As Jupiter triggers new perceptions and Saturn tests the validity of our perspective, rather than waiting for change we must be it. If we’re so invested in being right that truth has gone out the window, if we take refuge in false certainty to avoid the chaos of confusion, it’s time to up our game and trade conviction for the mystery, and certainty for a mind so open that nothing’s off the table!
Evolution or entropy

The new age of which many speak is born through us. We do not arrive in it fully formed, nor find ourselves delivered through external intervention. Instead, we birth it from our own becoming. All things move towards evolution or entropy and both states live in this conjunction. Saturn in Aquarius can be stubborn and self-righteous. Unwilling to consider a different perspective, so sure of its own moral certainty. But Jupiter frees it from its moral prison to become a guiding source of wisdom not a stifling source of judgement and fear. Together they invite us to the very edge of consciousness before pushing us into the unknown abyss where all answers ultimately reside.

The Moon is travelling through the final degrees of the zodiac as this conjunction comes to exactitude. Void of Course in Pisces, it warns of the risks of complacency and denial. The stakes are high and nothing is set in stone. We are our own saviours. We must know this without doubt. For in that very knowing is found the sovereign self that fears nothing and no one – radiant, unsullied and free.

As we journey into 2021 this Great Conjunction will light our way. Whoever and whatever we believe ourselves to be is now, more than ever, open to question. We can re-invent ourselves afresh and choose a different future; cast aside the yoke of limiting belief and refuse to be diminished by endless fear. This is our time. Our beginning. Our birth into freedom and endless possibility.

From this single moment in the Solstice silence, we can all arise anew.

Sarah Varcas

https://astro-awakenings.co.uk/21st-december-2020-saturn-conjunct-jupiter-in-the-1st-degree-of-aquarius

Greece 2

 A hawk flew over me as I lay there, alone on the deserted beach, hovering in the air, my anima. It's a good omen for me, I've always thought that, ever since i was a child. Any bird of prey that appears is a good omen.

Wandering through the pine groves, how can I keep from singing? I'm not actually singing as I walk but my body is singing from the hike.

The mountain is silent in the midday sun. The trees have their own song and I'm listening now. The heat is really getting to me, I'm sweating profusely but my mission is to reach the chapel, the white unblemished chapel. 

I'm not thinking as I climb higher and higher, its steep but I'm on a strange pilgrimage to the little chapel. No pain, no thoughts. The sea is disappearing from sight below me. The essential oils of pine and thyme are rich and heady in the air. My body is singing and sweating as I climb. I'm on a pilgrimage. I have to get to that holy place.

My breath is heaving, sweat is pouring out of me as I get slowly closer. This could be dangerous, there is no one for miles around, no one knows I'm here. The heat shimmers in the air around the rocks, a lizard scuttles off the path where I set my feet. The hawk is nowhere to be seen now, there are no birds, the white walls of the chapel can be seen up ahead.

The church is not particularly pretty, I have been to a few already on the island. This one is small and hidden away high on the mountainside, secluded by stately pine trees, the path up to the courtyard is paved. The stone is worn down by the years, slated by the seasons, by the salt carried in on the wind. 

Who knows when last anyone visited this sacred place. I open the blue door and the air inside is old and stale but the light falling in through the window illuminates the far wall of icons. There are various portraits of the saints, Jesus and Mary, just like in any other Greek church but there is something different about this one. 

I practically collapse onto the stone floor from exhaustion. I made it. The silence of the place is disturbed by my labouring breath, I need to regain my composure. A soft breeze flows in through the open door, cooling me somewhat. I lye there on the chapel floor, the saints are watching me from the walls but they are not judging me. 

I sit up, the place is only a couple square metres wide. Simple chapel, made with dedication, plain upholstery, no glamour and yet there is an ambiance pure, true, honest. It fills me with respect which startles me, I rarely feel a reverence such as this and I start to pray, kneeled on the floor. 

I pray for my family, I pray for my friends. I beseech the icons to watch over them. I thank the saints for the life I have lived, I thank them for the consolidation. Here where i am no longer mystical. Here where I am no longer clairvoyant. Here I pray silently and in earnest because I feel I must. 

I do not pray about the many years, I do not pray about the pain. I do not question my fate. Then I just sit there, alone in the remote chapel, alone on the remote island. 

For a moment I hope to die there. Its been a long time since I thought about death. There was a time when an ending was always on my mind. I want to die there on the floor of the tiny church in the arms of the icons, in the arms of the Mother Mary. I want to die for the love that is lost though its not a bitter or wretched feeling at all. Just a kind of surrender.