Uradiance

  Midway between Equinox and Winter solstice. Tilted cauldron of Ceridwen. Pouring out the shadows. How many silences could there be? Liquid quietness murmuring Motherward. Ineffably One. The silence between breaths, the silence between stars, between thoughts, between electrons pulsing in the atoms of your blood, the silence in her eyes, where the ruined beauty of last summer's garden hollows into the kingdom of a solitary crow, whose call is neither sad nor joyful, but vigilant, awake, annunciation of descending darkness, mystery of the web of night, season of dancing bones. The veil between the worlds is thin. Bright to dark the seasons turn, Green Man's fire in Jack O'Lantern, Bright above now shines within. Come dance in the circle of Samhaim,* Buds of Beltane burnished in frost. Honor the Old Ones: nothing is lost. Whatever is offered is born again. *Pronounced "Sowin." Photo: Farrell's Marsh, at the heart of the little town I l...

My Teacher said,  "I am in the business of selling gazes. The price is your heart,  but if you have nothing in the bank,    the penny of wonder in your eye is enough." Foolish as it seemed, I gave him everything and purchased emptiness. Friend, this is real business. With a single glance you sell  stars and galaxies, buying nothing in return. Thus you become rich. A mysterious transaction between  two overflowing voids, I and Thou. But how could there be more than  one?  And how could those who rest  in the gaze of grace be poor? If you understand this, you have invested  in the silence  of the rose. You've become a particle  of the unknown without circumference. When you breathe, stars tremble,  tears on your cheek. Friend, we are in orbit  around each other. Your center is me,  my center is you. And this majestic turning of  all things through all things is a great stillness.

This is my spiritual discipline. I give myself permission to eat whatever is delicious. I act my age: not even one moment old. I vow to dance with a perfect stranger. Every morning I breathe away the dream and gaze inside, smiling at the sun in the radiant mirror of my heart. Then I go outside to embrace eight billion lovers, satisfying each one with a feast of light, a taste of wine from the barrel of foolishness. Painting: Susan Sedon-Boulet