HUMAN REALM: imagination to understand

We only had a few days of this before Christmas consumed us, so I extended this week and blended it into Christmas, Chanukah and New Years. Underneath all these celebrations, there was this theme of light, miracles, hope and gathering humans together. 

On the last eve of the year, we tossed our frazzled, curly, dried, leafy wreath we had made earlier in the month, into the ocean. And watched it sweep away our tensions and fall into wavy laughing cuddles.

WOOL DOLLS

We crossed over the two weeks - from beasts to humans - enjoying the gift of wool from sheep. I finally got to making these standing dolls, a pre cut kit from Meg, our Steiner teacher. Stuffed with wool, and wrapped in felt, I had so much fun stitching together these dolls. And I was more lit up, when I saw my daughter animated as she played with them along the way in their different stages (a head, unstuffed body, hairless, and finally complete enough for now). These standing dolls were initially for storytelling so I wanted them to be able to reflect connections to us (like hair colours) as well as hold deep archetypes. There is king winter, Mother Earth, spring wanderer, and autumn harvester. The characters my daughter makes them to be is up to her. They all turned out perfectly wonky like humans. 

What characters would you create? 

BOX WRAPPING 

We had some cardboard boxes and brown craft paper recycled from some packages and decided to enjoy dressing them up a bit. My daughter had been enjoying the glitz of public Xmas decorations so I found some old glitter and metallic paint for us to jazz up the cardboard. A part from the fun sensory experience, they could then be used for gift wrapping. 

GIFTS  

We haven’t decided fully yet about what we say about Santa, as most of what she has heard comes from friends, family and mainstream media didn’t feel like a right fit yet. Nor did it seem important to her yet. For this year, it felt right to say Santa is a sprit which arrives at this time of year. He gives the spirit of giving to people. So through him, he inspired me to make and give these gifts to others. 

We filled the boxes she painted with her gifts the next day. A second hand sequin outfit, a collection of books and a bag of my old journey stones (divination stones from Minmia). She was overjoyed. We proceeded to go to our two family events as my parents are separated, and my did she receive a lot of gifts. She didn’t even rmemeber what she got because she just opened one after the other and yelled “more more” or “next”. I was left feeling sick, and not from the delicious food. I was saddened by the consuming culture, despite the great loving intentions of my family. Our handmade or thoughtful gifts felt lost and not enough in the maximum culture. I wonder if next year, we could limit it to one each? 

What do you do for gifts? 

PORTRAITS

The next few days I felt unsatisfied and seeking meaningful connection to the gift of humans. I realised we got lost in the gift giving and ran out of time for meaningful cards. So we tapped into gratitude. Using her new found drawing skill, I invited her to draw portraits for people in our lives who we appreciate. And then I could write love thank you notes to them. It got a bit much so this was an activity we could ebb and flow with over many days. 

What do you appreciate about a card? 

PHOTOS 

I finally collated and printed photos so that we could place them in albums and actually appreciate them. Rather than them be lost to the cloud. I loved remembering the stories and the humans that have touched our lives. The places where memories sing into our bones. The moments where we lived truly alive. With wonder. With imagination. With effort to understand. 

I’ve started sorting them, not just in time but in themes, like bath, ocean and adventures. Not only because they came back to the printers all jumbled in order, but because it’s like art to marry the connections in different stories that traverse time. 

What do you do with all your photos? 

And you’re left wondering, what is the gift of humans that minerals, plants and beasts didn’t already give us. 

With gratitude,

Clio 

. . .

h u m a n k i nd 

.  

in the end  

what will you make of it  

imagine

stories   

of gathering 

hope  

to be  

the gift  

. . . 

BEAST REALM: pondering the oneness

We begun this week with a real curiosity into what distinguishes humankind from the so called “beasts”. Aren’t we animals too? 

There is too much to explore here, just like in every other realm we have touched on. So I surrender to the fact I can’t do it all, and make a hopeful commitment to this tradition whereby if we revisit each of these realms each year, we will glide our awareness over more and more. Next year, maybe feathers, fur, silk, and more. 

WOOL DYE

Animals provide such gifts, like wool from their coat. A simple fun activity was dyeing a section of an old wool blanket in natural food colouring and vinegar hot water solutions. It felt safe for my daughter to get her hands in. And now we have beautiful coloured felt to make some creations. 

What could you make with wool?

FARM 

Koa had a desire to milk a cow to understand where her cows milk comes from as opposed to her soy milks. So we made it out to Golden ridge farm as a last minute easy access to domesticated farm animals. We help baby ducklings and chicks. We fed goats, kids, lamas and horses. It was a kitschy but necessary experience that I feel sad is so far from our current lives. 

We milked a cow and it felt wrong because she was mostly empty from feeding her calf earlier, and I connected it to when my kids have drained my breastmilk. 

My son was sitting on the ground and a beautiful horse reached over the fence and dragged his beautiful huge nose along my sons face. I wonder what it was like for him. The whole experience tapped me into the fact that I feel scared when I’m with other animals. I felt how unpredictable they are maybe because I don’t spend a lot of time with them. They feel so foreign. And so they draw a huge sense of mystery within me, mainly unease but this desire to understand and this acceptance that I can never fully understand. Whilst I appreciate all the scientists and trackers who research animals, I just feel like there is more magic to it. Just like with research into humans, I don’t feel like we will ever be able to predict what and why we are. To find such hard truths is to not understand the mystery in spirit. 

What is your response to animals? 

ROCKPOOLS 

Our closest access to an array of wild animals is the ocean. Whilst im playing defence for my son trying out every shell led animal in his mouth, this week, dear friends have led my daughter through exploring the rockpools. They each have their own wonders they wish to share with her. In particular it’s different types of slugs and their slime. But we don’t touch the blue ones - blue in nature is often some kind of warning. 

What is your memory of rockpools? 

MAGPIE

One night I had a dream or a thought that I wanted to feed a magpie and befriend it, so I wouldn’t get swooped this season and so I could have a birdie friend. The next morning I went out to collect my laundry from the garden and a magpie arrived. It never has before. It looked and me like - go on, give me the food you were offering. So I went inside and so began our regular feeding visitations. A few days she would show her mate who I was - as if to say - do not swoop this one, and if I die, come here for food. And this week (after months of visiting us), she finally brought her juvenile bub to us. People say not to feed birds. I’m grateful for our relationship and I’m curious to see where it takes us. 

How do you interact with your local birds? 

As far as I can see, this week we have learnt that animals or beasts have so much to teach us. They remind us of primal instincts including caring and fear. I feel like their gift is softness. And in a mysterious way, they connect us to the oneness of creation. 

But I truly do wonder. 

What do you think makes us different? 

With gratitude,

Clio

b e a s t s  

. 

relating in a way of

tending not only to receive

but to revere

the tamed and the wild

I wonder

about you

day and night

a mirror

traversing the unknowable  

foreign of the same kind