Synergy
The synergy of gasses;
The synergy of life –
Expressed in droplets
That glisten in the sun;
A beacon in the universe.
Fine droplets,
Creating rainbows
Of delight;
The essence of love.
Every wave that crashes on the shore,
Every stream that trickles,
Every raindrop that falls,
Is an expression of that mystical essence.
For within us all
Lies that iridescence
Of spiritual rainbows,
That flow and sparkle;
Born of a synergy
From which
We are its greatest expression.
Opher – 13.3.2020
Our Light
I wanted to produce a poem for our sun – sol – the giver of life.
It was marvelled at by the ancients and worshipped as a god. For they recognised that all the light and heat it gave was all that sustained us. As they saw it slowly rise, crawl across the sky and sink they sank to their knees and gave thanks. For we have need to produce ritual and seek answers. Our imagination is mighty.
Within its heart it fuses simple hydrogen and helium to create the full range of elements. It spews forth the complex atoms from which we are formed. Our carbon and oxygen were forged within that cauldron of unimaginable heat and pressure.
The planet we stand on is of its essence.
It pours forth light, heat and matter in a constant storm as we live within its atmosphere. It will do so for billions of years – as if an eternity. Then it will turn destroyer and expand to wrap us in its fiery cape and dissolve every artefact of our existence.
Once more we will rest within its mantle.
It is only a small star –
Nothing more.
Our Light
It glows,
Incandescent in the night,
Fusing elements
To create worlds.
It radiates
Without pause or thought
As it gives
Of all it has.
Worshipped
From afar in wonder
As it appears
To traverse the sky.
Seething
With an atmosphere
Of molten
Plasma fury.
It gives life
Without knowing
As it sacrifices
Itself eternally.
Opher 30.5.2016
We’re tried worshipping most things. The sun makes more sense that most. We live within its atmosphere and it gives us the light and heat that gives us life.
The Green Man and the sun gods Helios, Ra, Kehpri, Atum, Inti, Lugh, Hepa, Garuda, Huitzilopocthli, Apollo, Surya, Sol, Sol Invictus, Shemesh, Sunnya, and a host more, were all widely worshipped.
The longest and shortest days are good reasons for having a great festival and celebration. Nature is what supports us. We should respect it and celebrate its bounty.
I wrote this poem after seeing Nazca Nine on the Summer Solstice. It was a great gig. They were definitely waxing lyrical and many of the monarchs of yore were thought to be incarnations of Sun Gods.
Then there’s the Moon. It’s been a long time since we walked on it. I think some ancient cultures would have shuddered at the very thought.
Solstices are like a rebirth. I like the idea.
Solstice 2
Waxing on the lyrical
Beneath the sacred sun
Getting quite satirical
When God and Queen are one
Verging on the mystical
Beneath the sister moon
Leaning metaphysical
Hope we get there soon
Nineteen Nazca nine
Is looming from the dawn
Me and thee and thine
Are going to be reborn
Opher 31.12.98
Nothing is permanent – not even the universe. It is merely a matter of time-scale.
We are all just passing through. That was brought home to me by our house moving.
We lived in our old house for thirty years. We put in our alterations and improvements, decorated and adorned, and then we left and moved on. I hope we left it better than it was.
Thirty years seems a long time but that house was three hundred years old. We bought it. We paid off the mortgage and owned it. Yet we did not really own it at all. We merely borrowed it for a tenth of its life. We were just passing through.
Somebody else is living in our old house. It is hard to imagine them there. It felt like our home.
Our new house is being made into a home. We have brought all our things with us. We have placed the furniture, put up the photos and pictures, put the…
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A Vision
A man has to have a vision –
Something to base his life on.
For without a philosophy to fight for
There is no far horizon.
A vision is a philosophy
That one can aim straight for.
A set of ideals that
Are worth fighting for.
A vision of a better world
Is what I nurture in my head.
So that I can leave a legacy
For when I am long dead.
I have a picture of a future
Not run for selfish greed,
That protects the environment
Yet fulfils every need.
It’s a vision that is possible
For us all to achieve.
A vision in which everyone
Has the right to believe.
Opher – 19.12.2019
If one has a philosophy to base one’s life on then every action, every thought and every deed is focussed. It means that your efforts are put towards something positive. It gives your life purpose.
One knows what one is striving for and what one is striving against. Your life is no longer shallow and empty.
A man has to have a purpose.
Cavorting
Cavorting through infinity
In a dream
For the whole universe
Is not as it may seem.
Perhaps consciousness
Is not rare
And every atom is aware
That we are there?
Throughout, there is a vibration
That connects us all.
But we can only wonder
At the nature of its call.
For that is the pleasure of this journey
As here and there
As we busily scurry
We are largely unaware.
There are no answers to find
Only questions to be mined.
Opher – 22.12.2019
Beware of those who are certain of anything. They are always wrong. There are no certainties. The joy is to discover the questions. For every answer connects us to further mysteries.
In a universe built on quantum there is no solid ground, no here or there.
May you find strength from the power of the sun and light!
May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you,
and the pure light within you, guide your way on.
Sun is shining on us. It is reborn. May it shine on us all! These beautiful words and images from Linda.
As we welcome in winter
On this,
The shortest
And darkest day of the year,
It’s a time of reflections
A time for slowing down,
A time to listen
And hear what the
Sounds of silence,
Are whispering.
On this,
The shortest of days,
Begins the rebirth
Of the sun.
The lengthening of days,
A return of the light,
And renewed life.
~lindafedroff~
I am an antitheist – I am opposed to all religions. I think they are created by man and do more harm than good. I would like to see all religion wither on the vine.
But spirituality? No. I like spirituality.
I think religions probably started out as means of celebrating spirituality before they turned into power trips for megalomaniacs and indoctrination courses for children.
I do not think science understands everything or will ever understand everything. The universe becomes weirder and weirder with every discovery. What I am sure of is that a lot of the things that seem so inexplicable to us now may well be found to have a scientific basis. We do seem to connect mentally. There does seem to be synchronicity. There are incredible coincidences. People read religious/spiritual things into these. Maybe there is a spiritual element or maybe it has a scientific principle that we have no yet discovered? Who knows?
For me the holy books are interesting relics of an Iron-age mind. They do contain some worthy things plus a lot of culturally suspect garbage. Like any book of fiction or non-fiction there are good things to take out of them and a lot of stuff that has been superseded by our knowledge, thinking and understanding. Those books are products of their age and culture. They contain all the prejudices and attitudes of that culture and time. I’d like to think we’re a lot better than that now.
So what is my understanding of this spirituality that lies beyond religion?
Well for me it is not god, gods or spirits. It is not afterlife or resurrections, hell, paradise or dogma – it is the essence of life, the universe and everything (to paraphrase Douglas Adams).
For me there is a universal energy that pervades everything; every atom, subatomic particle, sun, galaxy and living creature. That energy is a vibration that runs everything. I do not endow it with consciousness or purpose.
For me that throb of the universe runs in me and connects me to everything. I marvel at it in sunsets, trees, rocks, sea, living creatures, plants, sun, moon, waterfalls, mountains, galaxies and the sky at night – all the things that our ancestors worshipped.
I do not worship it. I do not imbue it with meaning.
I marvel at it, enjoy it, relish it, renew myself in the wonder and awe of it and adore it.
If there is something that I would give the name god to it would be the atomic energy that connects all the universe into one right out to the expanding front of the event horizon created by the big bang.
I have no need for the gubbins of religion, for a personal god or eternal life. I have my rainbows, sunsets and snow-capped mountains. There is nothing to believe in, be dogmatic about, to divide people or provide hatred.
When I die my consciousness will cease. The energy that I am part of will not. I don’t care if that energy is conscious or has a purpose. That is meaningless and pointless to speculate. I just know that it will not be any god like the religions describe. It has not interest in my life or consciousness. It is a perpetual flow and I am part of it.
My spirituality is summed up by two people (or a group) sitting on the rim of grand canyon watching the sun go down, sharing a glass of wine, waiting for the stars to come out, gazing up in awe and then getting the guitars out and celebrating that with laughter.
My spirituality is inclusive and requires no expectations or beliefs. I am alive. That is miraculous. I don’t have to have been created. To exist is enough.
Photographs – Richard Duffy-Howard – award winning photographer – https://loudhailer.net/
I am an extremely spiritual person but I am totally opposed to all organised religion.
My spirituality is also based on a numbers of things:
I do not really care if there is a god or not. It is of little importance to me. I want a secular spirituality. I reject all religion for a number of reasons
However I know some people gain personal fulfilment by following a religion, find companionship and psychological reassurance. Religious people can be spiritual, kind, generous and tolerant.
My spirituality creates a wealth of warmth and connection. It is a positive affirmation of life. There is no division, hatred or need to justify it. My spirituality exists and requires no god, purpose or imposed morality. The morality I live by comes out of it. I respect and hold as precious all living things, fellow humans and the world around me. I’ve no need to put that into commandments.
I have no need for religion. I have no time for superstition. My universe is a world of wonder to be investigated, marvelled at and enjoyed. There are many things to be understood. I have a life to revel in it.
