A MINDFUL MODE OF STILLNESS

"What amazes me about landscape, landscape recalls you into a mindful mode of stillness, solitude, and silence where you can truly receive time." - John O'Donohue

We have returned from the Drakensberg feeling soothed and replenished. The first thing I did once the car was unpacked and we had enjoyed a cup of tea was clean my work table. Now that's a first! Quiet time has done me a lot of good if I'm feeling the need to get back to work so soon. 

A profusion of wildflowers were out wherever we looked...

....as were the baboons. The pastures and hillsides were alive with them. Eating, sun bathing, grooming, chasing. They were not happy having a camera pointed at them.

The fields were dotted with Sacred Ibis. Everything in flocks, herds, troops, clusters and strings. I had forgotten a group of ponies was called a string of ponies, but it makes sense!

"....you look up into a blue sky and, in a moment of grace, imagine a worthwhile tomorrow." -  Dianne Crumbaker

We experienced every season in one day. Even snow which melted the moment the sun came up so that we thought we had imagined it. Many storms, day and night but short and cleansing. The beauty of the landscape sparkling after rain caught my breath every time I stepped outside and walked on squelching earth to look at the lush farmlands.

"there is a certain shimmering essence that nearly breaks the heart" - Dianne Crumbaker

"I would like to step out of my heart and go walking beneath the enormous sky" - Rainer Maria Rilke

My friend Dianne Crumbaker has written a beautiful poem which I have quoted a few times in this post. I would love to share the whole poem with you.

AXIS MUNDI

The point at which heaven and earth meet.
There are other definitions. But think about this one. 
Better yet, think of it this way:
"A" point at which heaven and earth meet.
There is a point at the base of a baby's neck where heaven meets
earth.
And, certainly,
when fall moves into winter,
in the late afternoon light filtering through not-quite-bare
branches,
there is a certain shimmering essence that nearly breaks the 
heart.
Consider the point at which,
lying on your back,
you look up into a blue sky and, in a moment of grace, imagine a
worthwhile tomorrow.
Or when an unexpected wind sweeps around a corner and brings
with it a hint of some distant unknown sea
Maroon and gray and gold strata on a rocky headland
above a green-gray sea.
Tea in a special cup.
Points at which heaven and earth meet.
A string of points, connected, make a line.
A line can be followed, to a destination,
can draw us in.
Axis mundi.

- Dianne Crumbaker

BE STILL, THEY SAY

Emil Alzamora

"Walking, I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me.
Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands."  -  Linda Hogan, Native American writer

Ancestors by Emil Alzamora (ceramic, iron paint) See website here

Mark Chatterley. See website here

"Life, death, creation and destruction, this is the world I find myself in. I want my art to echo these thoughts, everything in a state of flux, changing and reforming. A sense of decay along with life. Nothing is permanent and nothing stays the same." - Mark Chatterley

The Messenger (I think this is by Anthony Abrahams)

Dreaming Guardians by Hib Sabin. See more here

As a shaman practitioner, Hib is acutely attuned to the connection between the human and animal spirit worlds. His cast of figures moves in and out of the spiritual world and evokes a certain ancient timelessness. Themes of transformation are quite common in his work, specifically transitional moments between life and death. 
- Stonington Gallery

Hib Sabin. See more here

Did you ever find out what your dreams were about? by Fran Williams. See website here.

Fran Williams  See more of Fran's beautiful work on FaceBook 

Jesus Curia Perez. Website here. Current exhibition here

Jesus Curia Perez

".... may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life."

- John O'Donohue

Stephen De Staebler

THE DRAKENSBERG IN MAY

"Is it not possible that a place could have a huge affection for those who dwell there? Perhaps your place loves having you there. It misses you when you are away and in its secret way rejoices when you return. Could it be possible that a landscape might have a deep friendship with you? That it could feel your presence and feel the care you extend towards it? Perhaps your favorite place feels proud of you…" - John O'Donohue (in his book Beauty)

May is my favourite month of the year because it is my birthday month (it is also Autumn) and my husband treats me to a 4 day stay in the Drakensberg. At the beginning of each year I start the countdown and by the time May rolls around I am more than ready to head for the mountains.

We were lucky enough to have a suite facing the mountains with no buildings to obstruct the view. This photograph was taken from the patio.

Drinking water with cupped hands straight from a mountain stream always tastes better than anywhere else.

So many of the trees in the Eucalyptus Forest were hollowed out, inviting one to step inside and contemplate life as a tree .... except there was always that lingering thought..... What an ideal nest for snakes and spiders!

It was well worth the steep climb up to the fern forest and a great way to work off 2 or 3 buffet meals a day.

We came across this baby Berg Adder. It is one of the most poisonous snakes in the Drakensberg....... and yet we were drawn to it.

It is particularly beautiful at the end of the day when shadows fill the hollows in the hillside and Egyptian Geese gather before flying home to roost.

"Now I was suddenly made aware of another world of beauty and mystery such as I had never imagined to exist, except in poetry...I experienced an overwhelming emotion in the presence of nature, especially at evening. It began to wear a kind of sacramental character for me. I approached it with a sense of almost religious awe, and in the hush which comes before sunset, I felt again the presence of an unfathomable mystery. The song of the birds, the shapes of the trees, the colors of the sunset, were so many signs of this presence, which seemed to be drawing me to itself. " - Bede Griffiths